The Perpetual War
by Fun-Sized Kirk
Summary: "There's a war out there Al. I'll try my hardest to keep you out of it" War has broken out and what will happen when draft is initiated? What lengths will Ed go to protect his younger brother from war? Slight AU eventual EdWin, much better summary inside
1. An Unwanted News Flash

**Long Summary:**

**"There's a war out there Alphonse," Ed muttered while he stared out his rain-washed kitchen window. "It's only a matter of time before we're sucked into it like the rest of them…and I'll try my hardest to make sure that that doesn't happen to you too."**

**A war has broken out close to home and it appears never-ending once the war reaches its eight-year anniversary. What will happen to the young men of the country as the draft is initiated once again? More importantly, what lengths will Edward Elric go to protect his younger brother from the hideousness of war? Eventual EdWin. Set in a slight Alternate Universe; Amestris with same technology and time period-key difference: there is no alchemy**

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**So, this is and idea that popped into my brain over a month ago and I've been working on the idea ever since. But I'm excited to finally be able to put this story into action.**

**I hope you enjoy and stick with the story, even during the next few chapters when it's going to be mainly exposition.**

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_"…they say 20 new recruits were killed yesterday. Bomb explosion. Just straight out of boot camp."_

"_Damn right shame."_

"…_a truck of supplies was blown off the road from an IED. Killed 10 people."_

"_I heard it was actually 15! Appears like the government either wants it kept quiet or they want it covered up completely!"_

"_Well of course they do! They don't want us all to think that all of our men are dieing out there! What government would do that?"_

"…_why are we still battling in this God-forsaken war? What's the point?"_

"_Point? When has war ever had a point besides taking the lives of good men, women, and children all over?"_

"…_do you think this war will be over soon?"_

"_This war will never end…it's an incessant and absurd war. There will only be an end when the people of Amestris or Aerugo stand up and dictate an end."_

"_Well if that's your opinion, why don't you go and see how it works out by demonstrating it yourself!"_

"Would you like some more Coffee sir?"

Edward looked up from his newspaper and into the flirty green eyes of his waitress. After glancing into his half-empty coffee cup and then glancing at his wrist-watch, he gave the girl a small, half-smile.

"Sure why not? I've still got more time," Edward lied.

"Anything else _sir_?" she asked once his cup was filled again with dark, hot liquid.

"Oh no thank you. After this, I think I'll be done."

"Okay then. Let me get you your check."

Edward let out a sigh as he watched the perky girl flounce away from him as if there was a runway in-between him and the counter. All of these girls were starting to get to him; he had enough problems as it was already.

He sat in his favorite, not to mention only, coffee shop in town, hiding from the blistery March weather that waited for him outside of the door. Everywhere he went there was only one discussion: the on-going war. That damned war had taken nearly everything that Ed held near and dear to himself and yet…there was nowhere on the planet where he could go and escape any information on the war.

"Will that be all _sweet-heart_?" his waitress asked in a tone that made Ed cringe slightly.

"Yes-thank you."

Ed pulled out the needed amount of bills as he stared at the check that she had left him before he drained the entire cup of coffee. He flipped over the paper and frowned slightly once he saw what was written on the back:

_555-6789_

_Taylor_

_-Call me!_

Once the note was slipped into his newspaper (he didn't want to hurt the poor girls feelings by leaving it there), Edward stuffed the rolled up paper into his inside coat pocket, buttoned up his jacket, and left the warm and cozy café.

The blistering winds hit his face hard as he persisted through the not-so busy streets of Resembool. The main street was usually the main gossip spot of the town but no one stopped to talk today. Once he had was about to get off of the main street, a voice called from behind him.

"_Edward!"_

Talk about problems. Edward let out a small groan of annoyance before the person in question had gotten too close to him.

"Edward, where have you been?"

Edward turned around to see a curvy young woman with tan skin, big brown eyes, and brown hair that had bright pink highlights in them. It was, in Ed's opinion, his Kinda-Sorta-Possibly-Maybe-On-Again-Off-Again-Girlfriend-Of-Two-Years, Rose, but Ed was sure when it came to her, they were as serious as could be. It wasn't that he didn't like her anymore well…no. That was a lie. Actually, he didn't like her anymore-at _all_. He wasn't even sure if he liked her as a fellow human being at all. This was due to the many, strong differing opinions the 'couple' shared. First of all, there was the whole different opinion when it came to the seriousness of their relationship. While Ed had been hinting for quit some time now that he would like to stop seeing each other, Rose kept hinting that she wanted a particular present for her upcoming birthday-an engagement ring.

"Oh…hi Rose," Ed said to her, hoping like hell he sounded sincere to her over the howling winds.

"Yes. _Hello_ Edward," she said rather coolly. "Where were you?"

"Huh?"

"We were supposed to be meeting at Martha's Furniture Store so we could decide on what bedspread would go best-with-the-paint-in-_our_-apartment!" Rose wined so quickly that it began to sound like one big word near the end.

Second reason as to why Ed wanted to break up: Rose always seemed to take Ed's 'no's' and 'why can't you do it's' into 'yeses' and 'of course I'll help you'. Not to mention whenever Ed tried to tell Rose clearly what he really wanted to do-which never involved shopping for matching pillow-cases for this non-existent _'our'_ apartment-she always whined and cried Ed's poor ears into submission.

"Um yeah about that…you see I was kinda busy and I had to go check-."

"What is that?" Rose snapped as she stared at a slip of paper that fell out of Ed's pocket. To his horror, Ed realized it was the number his waitress gave him.

_Countdown to explosion in five, four, three, two-_

"Why do you have another girls number!" Rose sobbed as she pointed accusingly at the slip of paper. "Why do you _always _have other girls numbers? Can't you just say that you're taken? Why can't you just do the one, _simple_ thing I asked of you today? Don't _I _do as _you_ ask?"

_Um, no._

"And, and-you haven't been appreciating all the work I've been doing so you can move in soon! Admit it!"

Ed opened his mouth to maybe try and defend himself but found that he would just let her spin out of control and let her run away in forced tears rather than adding more fuel to the fire that would never, ever burn out.

"Don't you _love me_ Edward?" Rose began sobbing hysterically, causing several people to stop and stare at the scene unfolding before them.

_I'm pretty sure I never said I did._

"W-well fine!" Rose screeched to Ed's face. "If you won't say it- _then I'm leaving_!"

And with that, Rose stormed away in her classic, overly-dramatic and not-so convincing exit. Ed let out a sigh before he turned to the people around him and gave them all a look that said 'does anyone have a gun I can shoot myself with?' before he began down the side street.

As Edward branched off the main street and onto one that lead to frost-bitten fields, his eyes passed over something: it was their towns' war memorial. He let his eyes linger for a moment on the plaque containing the names of the ones who had died that horrible day years ago; Ed kept telling himself that the only reason his eyes were watering was because of the strong winds.

"Hello Brother!"

Ed looked up as he closed the front door behind him. His brother, Alphonse, was standing at the stove, cooking something that smell deliciously like stew. He couldn't help but smirk at the flowery apron that he was wearing.

"So how was the coffee shop?"

"Ehh…caffeinated I guess. Full of lovely gossip," Ed added sarcastically as he plopped down onto a chair at the kitchen table. "Ran into Rose again."

"Ugh, so what happened this time?"

"I seriously have no idea. She just started screaming and crying so soon after she saw me I just…didn't really give a shit," Ed finished truthfully.

"Well why don't you just break up if you don't want to be with her anymore?" Al asked exasperatedly.

"_Al_! If it was _that_ easy I would have had this problem done years ago! You've never chucked a girl before! You don't know how hard it is. Especially when the girls a psycho."

"Edward," Al said in a stern warning tone.

"What? She is crazy and don't you deny it! But hopefully she'll be so pissed at me that she'll just let me loose. When's that done?" Ed asked, changing the subject to the big pot on the stove.

"In a bit Ed. Why don't you set the table?"

"Why Al? There's only the two of us. There's only _ever _thetwo of us," Ed groaned as he got up from where he sat. "That is, unless you suddenly got some friends?"

"I _do_ have friends Ed!" Al huffed. "Unlike _some_ anti-social, loud-mouthed jerks!"

"Well if we were all perfect like you Al I'm sure I could make friends too."

"So why don't you even try anymore? I remember a certain blondie about ten years ago that was the most popular kid at school."

"Jeez Al, can you stop sounding so conceded?" Ed asked with a smirk before he dodged a spatula that came flying his way.

"You know I was talking about you! What happened brother?"

"Heh, times change things," Ed muttered.

_Not to mention that this fucking war goes and takes away all of your friends. Either by killing them or by fucking up their minds so that they'll never be your old friend ever again…_

Dinner was a quiet affair as ever. Al told somewhat interesting tales of what happened down at the college campus, that was located a town over, while Ed fiddled with his food; Al instantly knew something was wrong when he noticed that Ed was not inhaling his stew like usual, but decided against pointing it out.

* * *

**Government Decides to Reinstate the Draft**

**What will this mean for the young men of the country?**

Ed stared at the front page of his news paper that he held in his hand. His heart was beating a million miles an hour and he felt his mouth grow dry. The Draft…it would be reinstated? He had heard myths of it around towns. He had heard of people saying that the government was using the rumor as a kind of threat, a scare tactic, but…but actually doing it? That was a whole different thing all together.

"Did the paper come yet brother?"

Ed turned his head around quickly. Al was standing once again in the kitchen with his ridiculous apron on. It was the next morning and after a night of restless sleep, Ed got up. It was Monday which meant that Al would be leaving for the local college in a while and Ed would leave for work.

How would he tell Alphonse that, odds are, the two of them would be shipped out to the front lines in only a matter of time? Ed glanced back at the paper quickly before he tossed it into the nearby bushes.

"It got soaked from the rain this morning," Ed invented quickly before he took his spot at the table again.

Al gave him an odd look before he shrugged and went back to the cooking if breakfast. Meanwhile, Ed's head was in overdrive. He knew he couldn't keep this news from Al for very long at all; it was front page news after all.

"Edward?"

"Huh?" Ed asked, snapping out of his trance.

"I asked you how many pancakes you wanted."

"Oh, um…three's fine. Thanks."

"No problem," Al said as he slapped three steaming pancakes onto his plate, his face and eyes holding signs of concern. "Is something the matter brother?"

"Uh, no. Not really," Ed said, hoping like Hell that his face didn't give away his big, fat lie.

"Right," Al said, sitting down next to Ed; he could he the skepticism in his voice. "The weather looks pretty foul out today, doesn't it brother?"

"Yeah…" Ed muttered before he turned to look out the window.

The weather did indeed look foul. Black storm clouds dominated the sky and Ed could detect a small drizzle in the distance. Strong winds bent trees, and other vegetation, doubled. Not a very good day at all today and it only appeared to be getting worse by the minute.

"Hey Alphonse," Ed suddenly piped up.

"What?"

"What are you doing at the university today?"

"Not much from what I heard. Only have my two classes and then I'll probably be back before lunch."

"Do you know if you have any tests?"

"I'm pretty sure I don't have any tests today. Why?"

"I just thought…well, since the weather's so nasty-and it seems to be getting only worse-the trains might not be operating as well and I just thought that maybe you could take a day off."

"A day off?" Al asked in confusion.

"Yeah. I was actually going to call the store and tell them that I wasn't feeling too good and would call off."

Al stared at his older brother for a while and tried to asses the situation: he brother, known to never take a day off of work or anything else unless 100 percent incapable, was not only encouraging himself to take off school but was saying that he was going to skip work?

"Um…who are you?" Al couldn't stop himself from asking.

"What do you mean?"

"Encouraging a day off? Who are you and what have you done with my brother?"

"Oh quite being so melodramatic. I just thought that it would be good. You know…with everything that has been going on lately and since we haven't been able to spend as much time together as usual."

Ed knew he had convinced Al once he had said the last part of his sentence. Because it was true that they had not spent as much time as they used to since Ed started work and Al began going to the college in the next town over. The time that they had lost together seemed to be multiplying the past few months, with the way the war was going on.

"Okay Brother. I guess a day off won't hurt any."

"Good," Ed said, relieved.

"So what did you want to do first?"

"Well, I wanted to run into town for a moment to pick up a few items first," Ed lied again.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Well maybe I should go-."

"No," Ed said quickly, cutting Al off. "I mean, you look pretty tired. Maybe you should rest up a bit or something."

"Brother…are you alright?"

"Yes Alphonse! I'm fine I just…"Ed trailed off, knowing that Al had finally caught scent of all the lies that he had just flung his way and now he was going to pay for it.

"Edward," Al said sternly; his face such an astounding representation of their mother's at this moment made Ed want to avert his eyes but knew that he could not.

"Alphonse, I promise I'll talk to you later, just let me pick up a few things from the market and then I'll come straight home."

"And you'll tell me why you're acting so obviously weird?"

"…yes."

Once the front door had shut behind him, Ed reached down into the bushes and pulled out the slightly damp and dirty copy of _the Resembool Flyer_, the local newspaper, and turned it to the front page. Re-reading the headline only made him feel as if the bottom of his stomach had dropped out, but he read on. He had to know.

'…_it was reported last night, at a press conference in Central, that due to the depleting numbers of soldiers on the battle field that the Head Council had unanimously agreed that the Nation Wide Draft is to be initiated once more…Council pleaded for understanding last night when the news was announced, causing a near riot in Central-mostly due to a large group of upset mothers…for terms of Drafting, see page 5.'_

Edward was sure he had almost ripped the fragile newspaper in his desperation to reach page five. Once there, Edward's golden eyes scanned the page hungrily to find the much needed information.

'…_terms of Drafting are as follows:_

_-The draft only applies to men not already in service. Women are still on a volunteer basis._

_-Once a man reaches 18 years of age, he will be sent a letter from the government with information on where he will be attending his boot camp._

_-Boot Camp will be a minimum of two months_

_-All draftees must join up for a minimum of three years of service to the Amestris National Military_

_-Failure to do so will automatically cause a representative from the military to forcibly bring you to said station of Boot Camp_

_-All Draft Deserters (men who have failed to sign up for their services in the military and who have fled in hopes of getting out of the draft) will be rounded up by Military personal and then incarcerated at once caught_

_-If one has a preexisting condition, or has a disability that might affect your likelihood of joining the military, please contact a nearby Military outpost and a representative will be sent to your dwelling to discuss.'_

Edward re-read the page at least five more times, trying to get all of the words and conditions into his unusually slow and unresponsive brain.

…_reaches 18 years of age… he will be attending his boot camp… All draftees must join up for a minimum of three years of service to the Amestris National Military… All Draft Deserters… will be rounded up by Military personal and then incarcerated at once caught …I have to join the military…_

Edward stared at the newspaper, the feeling of dread was slowly moving through every pour of his body. He was going to have to join the Amestris National Military.

…_and Alphonse will have to join soon enough after me._

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**Tell me what you think about the overall story and what you thinks going to happen next. Please send me a review, because they make me happy and keep me going. So if you like this story's idea, send me a review to keep this going.**

**Bye, thanks for reading!**

**-FSK**


	2. A Fight Between Brothers

**Hello everyone! Thanks for all the review last chapter; I'm so glad so many people favorited/reviewed/alerted this story!**

**I'm sorry if this took a while but it's all to do with the fact that I have no Internet. I'm using the public library's Internet as I write this. So no one think that I'm ignoring you or anything, I just can't do anything except take a 15 minute walk and hope there's an empty computer!**

**But, here you go! I'm sorry if there are some grammar mistakes but there's a 30 minute time limit and I'm running out of time!**

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"So what is it Brother?"

Ed looked up from were he stood at the front door, currently focusing on wiping his muddy boots on the welcome mat they had placed in front of the door, and saw Al there. He looked stern but worried again with his arms crossed across his chest and his jaw set. Ed let out a sigh realizing that Al was not going to let this go anytime soon.

"Well…hold on a minute Al…"Ed muttered as he slowly kicked off his shoes, almost in an attempt to stop the inevitable point of the day were Edward would have to inform Alphonse of the news that was likely to change both of their lives forever…even if they weren't aware of how much at this point in time. "I just need to run up stairs and-."

"No," Al cut Ed off. "I know what you're doing. I won't have it though! You _have _to tell me; you can't protect me forever Ed! I'm not seven anymore-I'm _17_! And I can handle things even though you don't think I can! So tell me."

"Fine," Ed said, defeated and a little impressed with the intensity of Al's defiant glare. "Let's sit down though."

"Alright."

Once the two had sat down at the kitchen table, Ed opened his mouth to speak but found himself unable to find the word needed to articulate the problem at hand. Instead, Ed stuck his hand into his pocket and ran his fingers along the rough paper until words finally came to him.

"There's the war going on…" Ed began; he was grateful when Al did not interrupt him. "And people are dieing…and…"

He couldn't do this. He couldn't speak any more. Finally giving up on trying to speak, Ed pulled out the newspaper, unfolded it, and placed it on the table in front of Al. Edward's heart seemed to sink as he saw Al's eyes scan over each line of the horrid paper. At last, Alphonse picked his head up and stared at his brother with a look at nearly shattered Edward's heart.

"The draft?" Al asked quietly.

"Yeah," Ed whispered shakily as he ran his fingers through his unruly golden locks.

Edward turned his head towards the window and watched as sheets of rain fell down on the already soaked and sodden landscape. He had to do something, anything. Anything that would protect his little brother, but what?

"There's a war out there Alphonse," Ed muttered while he stared out his rain-washed kitchen window. "It's only a matter of time before we're sucked into it like the rest of them…and I'll try my hardest to make sure that that doesn't happen to you too."

"What are you talking about Ed?"

"I'm talking about making sure you don't get hurt or even killed just because of this stupid draft."

"B-But…what about you? What are you going to do? Are you coming with me?"

Ed let out a small sigh. What _would_ he do? He didn't know if he could risk running away like Al. His name was probably already on a roster for men who needed to sign up while Al still had almost an entire year before his name would be put on the same roster.

"I don't think I can Alphonse…" Ed whispered.

"But you have to! We can't split up! You can't go to war!" Al yelled for a moment, hoping that these words would sway his older, stubborn brother. Ed did not react to these words until Al pulled out his trump card. "_You promised Mom that you'd take care of me!_"

Ed flinched at this. He couldn't deny this; he had promised his mother years ago that he would always try his hardest to protect his younger brother. He wanted to protect Al more than he wanted to protect himself and before he knew what had happened, Ed was on his feet and yelling.

"Yeah well maybe I _am_ taking care of you idiot! _Maybe_ I don't have to be at your side every waking moment for me to be taking care of you! _Maybe_ I'm putting myself out on the line to help you run away! And _maybe_ you should realize that I can't always be there for you like I wish I could!"

"_I'm _the idiot? Because you really seem to be sounding pretty damn stupid right now if you ask me!"

"Well I don't think I was asking you! So how about you shut up and do what _Mom_ asked _you_ to do too and _fucking listen to you brother when he's trying to save your life!"_

"Well since you're not gonna do as she asked, I don't think I am either!"

"_You'll do as I tell you Alphonse_!" Edward yelled, losing his patience with Al. "Last time I checked, _I _was _your guardian_! _SO WHY DON'T YOU FUCKING LISTEN TO ME AND JUST RUN?_"

Al had fallen silent. He fell back into his seat and stared up at his brother with a blank expression on his face that hurt Ed slightly, but he kept plowing on with his words, for he knew that they need to be spoken-or yelled-for him to get his point to Alphonse.

"Alphonse, I know you aren't the type to go run and hide when told, but you _have to_! Are you listening to me? Because no way are you going to die because of your own ignorance!"

"_My_ ignorance?" Al stood up again, slammed his hands onto the table and looked his older brother in the eyes with an equally powerful glare. "Well I'm not having _you _die either!"

"Well you should know better than anyone that we can't always have what we want!" Ed spat before he turned on his heal and stomped out the front door and into the pouring rain.

* * *

"I'm a fucking idiot…" Ed muttered as he was halfway down the winding lane that led into town.

He had not said this statement in regret to what he had just said to his brother, because he believed in every word that he had yelled back there. Alphonse needed to be yelled at every now and again to get a point across. No, Edward had said this to himself because of the fact that he had stormed out of the house, into the pouring rain without a coat and, more importantly, shoes.

Ed stared down at his socks, which were now no more than soggy, cloth sacks that were beginning to slip off of his feet. Pulling up his socks, Ed started to run towards the safety of his work, were he knew he kept an extra pair of shoes, along with a change of clothes, in the back.

Ignoring the many stares from the people in all of the shop windows, Ed bypassed the main entrance and went into the back employee entrance. Inside the back room, it was always slightly too hot and humid, no matter what time of year. Before he could be seen by any of the other workers, Ed stealthily slipped over to his locker.

_Jackpot!_

Ed had pulled out his dry close and shoes and was on his way to the bathroom to change when he heard a laughing voice from behind him.

"Well look what the cat dragged in!"

Ed turned around and saw Russell Tringham, co-worker and childhood best friend, standing behind him, dressed in simple clothes with his shop smock on. His sharp blue eyes showed sign of laugher and his smirk was just as cocky as ever. Ed chose to ignore Russell's greeting until he was in some close that weren't stuck to his body.

"Hey! Where you going?" Russell called after him as Ed locked the bathroom door behind him.

"Where do you _think_ I'm going ass?" Ed snapped as he tore each sodden layer of clothing off of him.

"So Ed," Russell said through the closed door. "Why are you so late? Boss would probably flip-a-shit if you skipped another day. That reminds me-why _do_ you skip so much now anyways?"

"None of your business Russell," Ed sighed as he pulled a thick, and more importantly dry, emerald sweater over his head.

"Well I think you should at least give me a hint! I mean, every time you're not here, I cover for your ass for as long as I can!"

Edward paused mid-way into pulling on a pair of slightly too small back jeans. Russell had covered for him? Maybe that kid did have an ounce of unconditional kindness in him.

"Thanks," Ed muttered while he stepped into his spare pair of shoes and lifted of his soaked mass of clothing from the floor.

"So where were you?"

"…me and Alphonse had a little…fight," Ed mumbled, shoving the clothes into his locker, pulling out his own shock, and slamming the metal door shut.

"So."

"So what?"

"So you heard?" Russell said quietly, his tone suddenly serious. "About…"

"The Draft," Ed finished. "Yeah, I did."

"So…?"

"You know what? I'm so glad to be friends with someone of such a diverse vocabulary," Ed remark smartly.

"Of fuck you. But…are you gonna do it?"

"Have to," Ed answered.

"Well yeah, I _know_ that! But are you-I don't know-going to try and run for it?"

"I think it would be pretty hard considering that my names probably already down on a registration form at the nearest outpost, waiting for me to sign up."

"You could still run," Russell said quietly, staring straight into Ed's eyes.

It was at this moment that Edward realized that Russell was afraid. Afraid of what exactly, Ed wasn't quite sure, but he knew for one thing that Russell probably didn't want to have a friend die. Russell placed a hand on Ed's shoulder and brought him slightly closer to him.

"You could run…you could leave the country, and then you could come back later. You could do it."

Ed closed his eyes and let a small smile tug at the corners of his mouth; he was touched that some one had cared so much about him staying safe, especially Russell: arrogant, self-centered, annoying Russell.

"I know I could," Ed said as he gripped Russell's hand and took it off his shoulder. "I'm sure I could but…I just get this feeling that I shouldn't. If I don't go…and a bunch more guys don't go, they could start drafting younger and younger. You could still run for it though," Ed added, thinking of the fact that Russell was still only 17.

"Well with the way you're preaching to me, I don't know if I should now."

"Wait…" Ed muttered, a sudden idea coming to mind. "You _could_ run for it-."

"Ed, if you're not running, then neither am-."

"Shut up. Listen to me. You could run-and take Alphonse and Fletcher with you."

Russell stood there for a moment, staring at Ed as if he had suddenly sprouted another head. He knew that Russell would be Ed's best chance at making sure that Al would be safe as possible once he had left. They were all like brothers, why couldn't Al have his 'other' older brother take care of him instead?

"I don't know…"

"Why not? I know you don't want to go, you defiantly don't want your own little brother going, and you don't want Al to go too-."

"And I don't want you going _either_!"

"Well too bad," Ed snapped before he let out a sigh and ran his fingers through his raged. "Listen…just think about it. _Please_."

"I will."

They stood there for another awkward moment longer, neither quiet sure what to say to the other. Finally, Russell broke the silence as he began to walk towards the door.

"We should probably get to work before Boss blows up on you."

"Right."

"Oh," Russell said with a small smirk. "And Rose looks like she's out for blood. _Your _blood more importantly, so watch out."

"Thanks for the warning."

* * *

**I'll try and update again before I go on my trip to D.C. but I don't know how promising that'll be.**

**Please review and I'll try my best to update again!**

**-FSK**


	3. A Decleration of Dislike

**Hi readers! Thanks for all of the reviews I got last chapter and I'm sorry I couldn't update sooner. My mom's friend is looking at our computer so all we have is the monitor right now and so I can't even try to work on the next chapter of my stories.**

**I know that a few of you may think that Rose is a bit OOC but all I have to say is that she's just going to be here for a bit and I'm only using her for a bit of a Protagonist character. But I always have fun writing her just because it's weirdly fun to have other character's piss each other off.**

**But here is the third chapter and I hope you enjoy it but I have to reread it and see what happens because I wrote this chapter about a month ago and I don't remember what happens. :P**

* * *

_There has got to be something better to do then spend the rest of my life re-stocking shampoo bottles and counting candy… _Edward thought as he leaned against a shelf. _Well…what's the point of mopping over something that I know can't happen. Not until this fucking war is over…_

"'Sup Ed?"

"Nothing…slow day," Ed remarked as he stared at the one soul customer who had been staring into the freezers for the past twenty minutes.

"Yup. Don't know why Boss gets so fucking pissed when we don't show. It's not like there some mad rush for disposable razors and shower caps."

"Still, we get paid to stand around here so I can't really complain."

"Right. Uh-oh," Russell said as he glanced over the shelf and over to the check out counter.

"What?"

"Rose. Looks. _Piiissssssed._"

Ed let out a loud groan as he slid down onto the sticky floor.

"What happened?" Russell whispered, crouching down next to Ed. "Did you _finally_ end it?"

"Do you think I would look like this is we had?" Ed asked as he motioned to his annoyed expression. "And do you seriously think Miss Drama Queen of the Century would have even graced us with her presence today if we had?"

"No," Russell snorted. "She would probably be holding herself up in her apartment diving head-first into a pint of ice cream."

"More like standing on the edge of her apartment's roof, pretending to jump until I got back with her. I don't even see why she wants to be with me so badly! I mean, I make it pretty damn obvious that I don't like her-_at all_."

"I know what you mean man."

"Thanks."

"Your welcome. I mean, what's so great about you? Look at you! You're a smart-ass and sarcastic. And you're short-!"

"Thanks for the help Russ," Ed growled sarcastically as he sprung back onto his feet.

"You are _so_ short man. I mean, you're barely any taller than her! You like a midget!" At this point, Ed was already half way down the isle, throwing punches at the coolers, and Russell had to run to catch up with him. "And you're a genius but you choose to work at a mini-mart, maybe she wants you to live to your potential? Let's not to forget that you have this, this straggly, _girly _hair. You know dude, I have to say that you _must_ be an _amazing lay_ because if you don't have that, well then what do you have-?"

"_Shut the fuck up Tringham!_" Ed hissed before opened the back door into the employees lounge. "And at least _I_ actually get some. Not like you who has to plug drinks into a girl to get it."

"Oh, that's cold man," Russell said, following behind him.

* * *

"_Oh Edward!_" Rose shouted as Ed stepped out of the drug-store. He stopped in his place, knowing it would only be worse to try and run for it.

Rose came skipping up towards him before she stopped at his side, pulled on his arm so that he was facing her, and gave him a some-what sympathetic look. He had a feeling where this was going but he didn't want to think about it too much for it gave him a slight stomach ache.

"So Edward, we are going to talk about yesterday."

Edward couldn't help but notice that Rose spoke so that Ed had no real say in what they were going to do. A year ago, Rose would have said something like: I would like to talk to you about yesterday. But now, she said everything in a tone that meant no exceptions.

"And you're going to treat me to drinks," she added with a pleasant smile as if she this was something special for him, instead of just her. She then wrapped one of her arms around Ed's and said, "So let's go!" before she led him out into the streets like a show dog.

* * *

"So Edward," Rose said as she stirred her paper umbrella that came with the martini she had already guzzled down. "About yesterday…"

"Yes?" Ed muttered while he stared down into the amber color of his beer.

"Well, I want to know why you were acting like that! I mean, you were positively _rude!_ Didn't even give me a simple explanation. And not to mention that number that…_girl _gave you."

Ed let out a sigh as Rose continued to steam roll through all of Edward's apparent faults and flaws that he had shown in the past month.

_Just do it! Just end it here and now! It's perfect. You've tried to avoid actually fighting with her but it seems like the only way to get through her dye-job brain!_

"…and not to mention that you didn't open up the door for me last Tuesday when we were both going to the lounge! And when Russell spilled his drink on me! You didn't-."

"Rose."

"-yell at him or anything! And that was a new dress mind you, which you didn't even notice-."

"_Rose."_

"-I mean, I spend _all_ sorts of time on myself so that you'll get the pleasure of being seen with the most _beautiful_ girl in a twenty mile radius of this hick town and what do I get in return-?"

"_Rose!_" Ed shouted, causing several people nearby in the bar to stare at him, but he didn't care; not if he could finish it.

"_What_? What is it?"

"Can you please let me speak for _one_ minute?"

"Of course, you don't have to throw such a fit."

"Thank you. Now Rose-."

"Yes, Edward?" Rose said, giving her hair a little toss while she batted her eyelashes at him.

"I need to talk to you about us."

"_Really?_" she asked excitedly; Ed knew what she thought was coming and he couldn't help but feel a little sad about it.

"Yes. Now Rose, we've been together for two years now-."

"And every minute has been just _amazing!_"

"Well you see Rose…not really," Ed began; Rose gave him a confused look at this. "Maybe the first six months but…lately…they haven't. _At all_."

"But I've…I've had so much fun_ Eddy_!"

"Yes and that's a perfect way to put it," Ed said before he took a swig of his drink while slowly gaining confidence. "_You've _had fun._ You've_ loved every minute_. _And _you've_ turned this relationship, one that I used to have fun in, into a mega, ultra relation-_shit_."

"What do you mean?"

Edward stared into the big brown eyes that he had once found captivating and felt a small sting of guilt for having to let her down so hard. But, he kept telling himself, this is what he had to do; he's tried letting her down easy before and look where it got him.

"I want to break up."

"W-what?"

"I mean it. I. Want. To. Break. Up."

"B-but-."

"No. You know what? I shouldn't even put it like that- I'm just breaking up with you."

"Edward! Really, where is this coming from?" Rose asked, Ed could see the tears, whether fake or real, begin to well up in her eyes.

"From the past year and a half of you trying to turn this relationship into something it's not. You have ignored what I wanted completely, treated me as if I was a slave, and refused to beak up with me when I've asked you too. So, goodbye Rose. I'm, well, no. I'm not really sorry." Ed got off of his bar stool, turned around to face her, and said, "Goodnight Rose."

As Edward walked through the night he did not care that his coat was not meant to keep him warm for this amount of time, he did not care that his boss was going to chew him out tomorrow for coming in late and then leaving early, and he did not even care that he most likely left his wallet in the bar where he had left Rose. He didn't care about anything and that was because for the first time in a while, even if he knew that it would only last momentarily, he felt completely at ease. Ed took a deep breath of cold air that ripped at his lungs before he let himself flop down onto some stone steps, which led to a small wooden bridge, and stared up into the sky with intense wonder and happiness that didn't feel as if it should belong to him.

_KA-BOOM!_

Smoke filled the sky about half a mile away and the ground shook slightly, most likely from an explosion. But why was there an explosion? Panic instantly began to fill Edward's body as his thoughts moved to ideas of off course missiles or bombs from a battle field. They weren't exactly close to the main battle fields, but that didn't mean that they never go hit by stray ammunition.

Ed sprang up from his seat and began to run towards his home and the direction of the smoke. If he had to guess, Edward would have said the smoke appeared to be coming from the train station; he only hoped it hadn't hit the tracks or else the town would be in trouble until they could fix it.

_I'll just run in and get Alphonse and then we can check it out…_Ed thought as he ran up to the front door of his dark house.

"Hey Al!" Ed shouted as he turned on the living room light so that he would not trip over anything in the darkness.

When he didn't get a response, Ed ran up the stairs up to the second floor and walked down the hall to Al's room; it wasn't that late but there was always the chance that he may have gone to bed early. But when Ed walked into Al's room, he found it completely empty. Walking back down to the kitchen, Ed noticed a note that had been placed on the counter.

Brother-

I decided to go to school today, even though I know you asked me not to. But since I already know why you didn't want me to go in the first place, I don't see any reason as to why I should stay home. I'm planning on hanging out with Fletcher afterwards so I may not be home until late. Don't wait up and if I'm not home by sunrise, it's because I probably fell asleep in Fletcher's dorm which means I probably will not see you again until the next day.

-Alphonse

Edward stared at the piece of paper for a moment before he balled it up in his fist, shoved it in his pocket, and left the house to go to the damage. He knew this would happen, but he still silently wished that it wouldn't. Whenever he and Al got into heated arguments like the one earlier in the day one of them would want to talk about it after some time had past but the other would want to create a momentary distance between the other. Usually it was Ed who wanted to be left alone but there were always exceptions when it came to the norm between the two brothers.

Finally Edward had reached the site. Not many people had reached the area yet so Ed was able to get a closer look. It appeared to him that one of the train tracks had been blown apart. He turned to the station master next to him.

"What happened?"

"Shrapnel," the man answered staring at the site wearily.

"_Shrapnel? _All the way from the _border_?" Ed asked, amazed.

"No. No way it would make it that far."

"Well then where…"Ed began when sudden realization hit him hard.

The shrapnel had made it so far not because of some freak accident, no. It had made it here only because the towns' worst fears were slowly becoming true: the war was spreading farther north and closer to the Resembool.

"_Do you know how badly the trains will be delayed_?" Edward heard another women ask the station master.

"_Well since they only got one track, the trains won't have to stop completely but delays could be up to a few hours and it may last for days depending on how long it will take to get someone to fix…" _

Edward stopped listening. He turned around and began walking towards the nearby payphone. After rummaging in his pockets for a moment and depositing the needed amount of money, Ed dialed Fletcher's phone number and began hoping that someone, anyone, would pick up. Unfortunately, either no one was there or no one felt like picking up because it went to the answering machine. He hated leaving messages, never being quite sure what to say so after deciding if he wanted to leave a message he decided against it and hung up the phone, hoping that Al would call him soon.

* * *

**Ed and Al are having a little bit or a brotherly spat, I'm not sure what Rose will do later on but I'm pretty sure you'll be seeing just a bit more of her in the future, and what's going to happen to Ed now that the war is getting closer to home? Find out in the next chapter that I'll try and put up whenever the Hell my computer's fixed.**

**Bye!**

**-FSK**


	4. Goodbye for Now

**Hi readers!**

**Um...so my computer kinda got broken again...but it's fixed! (for now at least) So I'll try and update my stories quicker like I used to. But here's the next chapter of Perpetual War and I'm sorry if the actions kinda moving at a snails pace right now but I need to lay out some exposition here. This chapter is an entire flashback to a time in Edward's childhood and if you haven't read any of my stories before, I use italics to write flashbacks or dreams.**

**So here you go and I hope you like it!**

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_

_"Dad?"_

_Hohenheim looked up from the half-packed suitcase that laid on his bed and turned around to face his oldest son, who was currently standing in his bedroom door way. His tired gold eyes traveled from the scared expression on his sons' young face to the slightly crumpled letter he held in his hand. He knew that he would have had to explain soon enough, but he wasn't sure if he could do it now; not with the look that was in his son's eyes._

"_Yes, Edward?" he asked, eyes choosing to stare at a spot slightly to the left of his son, rather than looking him straight on._

"_Why are you…why did you get…"Edward struggled for a moment before he took a deep breath, held up the letter he had in his hand, and forced his father's eyes to meet with his own. "Are you leaving us?"_

"_I…" he began, not sure of how to answer it while his insides squirmed with guilt._

"_You are…aren't you," Edward said sadly._

_Hohenheim stared at his son for a moment, taking it all in: the way his hair and eyes were the exact copies of his own, his round face, the defiant, brave air he always seemed to carry with him. He wanted to memorize all of these things, knowing deep in his heart that it could be years before he could see it all again._

"_You…" Edward whispered, his body visibly shaking and his eyes tearing up; whether from rage or sadness, he didn't know. "Y-you can't! You can't leave Alphonse and me!"_

"_Edward, it's not my choice to make-."_

"_Yes it is! They can't just say they need you and take you away without thinking of your family! They! Can't! Do! This!"_

"_They can and they are, Edward," he said with a sigh before he began to walk over to his son. "You read the letter. You're a smart boy. You're sure to realize what the government can and will do in such a hectic time of war like this."_

"_B-but, they can't," Edward said in such a pathetic and un-Edward voice that it stopped Hohenheim for a moment. "I can't let them do this…don't they realize what's just happened here-?"_

"_Of course they don't Edward. And even if they did, I'm sure they wouldn't care," Hohenheim said bluntly. "The government of an entire country wouldn't care if all of the scientist being forced to come had just…lost their wife," his voice threatened to crack but he fought against it to continue, "and were leaving parentless children behind as long as they got what they needed and you have to realize that."_

_The two stood there in silence. Hohenheim could see the gears working in Edward's brain as he tried to come up with some master reason that would stop the government from taking him away. Silently, he wished that Edward could do it, for he defiantly did not want to leave his children._

"_We need you."_

"…_I know you do son. You and Alphonse need me and I want to be here for you too. But," Hohenheim turned his back to his son and began fiddling with his already perfectly organized clothes. "But I just can't."_

"_Fine."_

_Hohenheim looked over his shoulder and felt as if his stomach had turned to ice. Edward's eyes were cold as they glared at him while his body shook with sobs that were surely going to burst from his body any minute now. He hadn't seen his son look so broken and defenseless like this in a long time._

"_Edward…"_

"_No. You don't want to even _try_ to stop them from taking you so…_fine_!" Edward spat. "Go! _Leave_! _I'll_ take care of Alphonse! Just like mom asked me to do in the first place-probably because she realized that you would leave as soon as she was gone!"_

_Edward sent his father one last watery glare before he turned and ran down the hall as fast as his legs could take him. Hohenheim was sure that he had heard a sob break though the boy's lips as his bed room door slammed shut. That small noise made his heart feel as if it was going to break._

_Hohenheim stared down at the floor and saw the letter that Edward had dropped on his hasty way out. Bending down, he picked it up and scanned through it. The military had sent him several letters about the matter already and every time, he tried his best to hide them from his sons. He had only a few more days before he would have to leave for the capital to go and work in some laboratory were all of the countries most brilliant minds would be working together to most likely try and create weapons of mass destruction. He hated the idea of leaving of his children behind without a parent when they were only eleven and ten but…he had no choice. If he didn't show up, they would come and bring him there by force. All he could hope for was for Edward to realize what sort of position he was in and what position Edward himself might be in if the war continued for several more years. The government had been searching the country to find the brightest minds and even now, Hohenheim had a feeling that Edward could already be recruited for the same cause he was. Edward had to learn to lay low and Hohenheim knew that he had to tell his son this before he left._

_Slamming his suitcase closed with more forced than needed, Hohenheim took a deep breath and forced himself to relax. He could not talk to Edward if he was wound up too; it'd just end up like two stubborn goats butting heads. After a few moments of attempted relaxation, Hohenheim got up and walked down the hall to his sons' room and knocked on the door; her received no answer._

"_Edward," he said loudly through the door. "I need to talk to you."_

"_He's not here," said a quiet voice from behind him._

_Hohenheim turned around to see his younger son, Alphonse, standing behind him, dripping wet from the rain outside while wearing a very oversized sweater. He sighed at the sad sight of the lost looking boy but knew he had to be firm all the same._

"_Alphonse you can't keep it."_

"_Keep what?" he asked while wearing what he assumed Alphonse thought was an innocent smile._

"_Whatever is making your stomach move," he said while motioning to the quivering lump hidden underneath the large piece of clothing._

_Alphonse tried to keep his innocent look but cracked not long after. He then let out a small sigh and reached into his sweater, pulling out a thin, wet tabby cat._

"_He was out in the rain!" Al exclaimed, eyes beginning to shine on cue. "And look! He's so skinny! I had to-!"_

"_Alphonse. You know we can't keep a cat; not right now anyways."_

"_But-!"_

"_Yes, you can keep him here until it stops raining but once it's done you have to put him back. I'm sorry."_

"_Fine," Alphonse grumbled in a voice similar to his older brother._

"_And what do you mean Edward's not here? Did he leave?"_

"_Yeah," Al said as he pulled the damp sweater over his head. "He ran out as I was coming in. He looked really mad."_

"_Do you know were he was going?"_

"_Nope."_

"_Well I have to go and get him so I can talk to him about something-."_

"_Did you two have a fight?" Al asked innocently._

"_Yes we did. So please stay here and I'll be back with your brother as soon as I can."_

"_Okay Dad."_

_Hohenheim walked across the living room and over to the coat rack that sat by the door and grabbed his large brown coat. Once he had his coat on, he grabbed the large black umbrella that sat by the door and walked outside into the cold rain. The now mud road had created an easy trail to follow his temperamental son, he only hoped that Edward had stayed on the road._

_After almost a half an hour of walking around, Hohenheim finally caught sight of the golden locks that could only belong to his son. Edward sat by the nearly overflowing river in his rain coat. He quietly snuck up on Edward from behind (Hohenheim doubted whether his footsteps could be heard over the noises in the river) and placed his umbrella over Ed's head. Once he seemed to realize that the rain had stopped falling over his own head but continued everywhere else, Edward looked up and took on an enraged expression at once._

"_What the Hell do you want?" Ed snarled, jumping away from his father's umbrella._

"_Edward," Hohenheim sighed in exasperation, "how many times have I asked you not to swear?"_

"_What the Hell do you want?" Ed repeated, ignoring his father's question completely._

"_I need to talk to you. It's important."_

"_Well I don't want to listen!"_

"_But you need to hear this because it may involve you one day."_

"_What do you mean?" Ed asked, his anger momentarily forgotten._

"_I mean that if this war goes on for too much longer, the people who are taking me away will probably take _you_ away too."_

"…_What are you talking about?"_

"_Edward, you're a very smart kid and I'm a smart person too so the government's using my mind for their little war games. Now, think. What would happen if the war kept going until you were, say, seventeen or eighteen and you continued to show great mental abilities? Who would the government chose to take to work for them next? And who would you be leaving behind?"_

_He could easily see the gears working a mile a minute in Edward's brain and he knew he reached the conclusion before he really realized what that even meant. Finally, Edward began to look almost scared and he looked up at his father._

"_Me? They'd take…_me?_"_

"_Yes. Now listen to me Edward, I'm not telling you to suddenly do badly in school and I'm not telling you to not try your hardest in school."_

"_Then what the Hel-heck are you telling me to do then? Because you're not making much sense!"_

"_I want you to be careful. Don't go and advertise that you're smarter than average and try not to let your brother do it either."_

"_But how? How can we do that but still do well in school?"_

"_Don't go into government run programs for intelligent people because they're likely to just be used as a trap to find the next brightest minds in the country to be used later. If the war really does go on so long that you're an adult, don't go to some big college, same for your brother. But I want you to stay in school and go to college alright?"_

"_Okay?" Ed said, sounding confused by his father's words._

"_Do you understand me?"_

"_K-kinda. Should I tell Al?"_

"_No, I'll tell him later."_

"_Okay."_

"_Let's get back home before you catch a cold," he said, bringing the umbrella closer to Edward._

"_I don't get colds," Ed snapped but stayed under the umbrella all the same._

_Hohenheim smiled at his son before they began walking silently towards their house._

* * *

_Everything had been taken into consideration. Edward had become legally emancipated and was now Alphonse's primary guardian. Hohenheim would send half of his checks home to the boys and they would keep up their grades but try not to stand out too much past the small town. A trusted neighbor from down the road would check in on the boys every week and they, Hohenheim, Edward, and Alphonse, were all to try to keep in touch but with no promises until Hohenheim found out how strict the governments laws were on writing home. _

_Hohenheim was leaving tomorrow morning and no one seemed to want to mention it._

_The three men ate dinner quietly and made unusually polite small talk until Edward could not stand it anymore and asked to be excused to his room. Alphonse seemed close to tears the entire night and always sounded as if he was about to cry whenever he spoke. Hohenheim watched as the two boys got ready for bed and gave each a hesitant pat on the pat once both were safely in bed. (Edward seemed to just barely tolerate it.) Finally Hohenheim went to his room but did not sleep; he stayed wide awake at his desk, to deep in thought to sleep. When the dawn arrived, Edward and Alphonse had already been working in the kitchen on a breakfast of pancakes for them to eat. Again, small talk was mumbled around the table as they finished their plates. No one said anything substantial until Hohenheim was standing at the door, suitcases in hand, and ready to leave._

"_You boys have your keys right?"_

"_Yeah Dad," Alphonse said in a quivering voice._

"_Good, good. And you know there's an emergency number to call for me, right? You have it Edward?"_

"_Yeah," Ed said as he dug in his pockets before he pulled out a small white card. "Got it right here."_

"_And you have enough money for the rest of the week?"_

"_Uh huh."_

"_And you remembered our pin number and know how to get money from the bank-?"_

"_Of course we do Dad. We'll be fine," Ed said with a small, reassuring smile before he replaced it with a slightly snoty expression. " We're more competent than you might think."_

"_I know you are Edward, both of you are very smart boys."_

_Alphonse nodded furiously at his father's words as his eyes began to betray him and tears began to roll down his round face. Hohenheim stood in his spot for a moment, frozen and not quite sure what to do, before he moved forward and embraced his younger son. Everything inside Alphonse crumbled and began to sob._

"_Don't go Dad!"_

_Hohenheim bit down on the inside of his cheek to stop himself from joining his son. It was unfair to have to leave his sons when they were both still so young and dependent (even though they would claim otherwise) on him, especially after the death of their mother and his lovely wife Trisha. Hohenheim looked to his older son and saw that he was looking at the floor, bangs hiding the tears that were most likely forming in his own eyes. Taking an arm away from Alphonse's small back, Hohenheim reached out and pulled Edward to him._

_How long they stood their, no one would remember but all Hohenheim would remember was forcing himself from Alphonse's death grip and moving out the door while his youngest continued to cry for him and his older son held him back. Once he was sure he could look back, Hohenheim turned around and looked into the face of his oldest son and took in every little detail about him before moving to the hidden face of his youngest. How could any father leave his children like this?_

Because Edward was right and I'm not a good father,_Hohenheim thought sadly before he continued to walk towards the center of town and to the train station that would not only take him away but take Edward away years later._

* * *

**I love Hohenheim... and I hope Al fangirls appreciated the cat sneaking in this chapter.**

**So I hope this chapter kinda helps to explain why Ed's working at a drug store and not doing something brainy. I'll try and put some action into the next chapter because even I want to get to that part. I've already written some later parts of this story!**

**Please review because I love seeing the number of reviews climb and a happy writer gets you an earlier update! (If my computer doesn't crap out on me again.)**

**BYE!**

**-FSK**


	5. Promises and Apologies

**Hello my lovely readers and reviewers!**

**Here is chapter five and it's a bit of a longer chapter so I hope you enjoy it!**

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"Ow…

my freaking head…" Ed moaned as he held his head between his two hands as if his head might break into two if he stopped holding on. "What happened…?"

Edward's weary eyes shifted through the room, confusion slowly settling in as he realized that it was not his bed that he was laying in. In fact, he appeared to be in a room that didn't belong to his house at all!

_Well then where…am I?_

The answer quickly showed up in the form of his blond co-worker and friend, Russell.

"Well, well, well. Look who's finally woken up," he sneered but Ed could sense that it was all in jest. "You know it's almost noon."

"So what?" Edward groaned as he continued to massage his aching head. "Just tell me why I'm at your place and give me an aspirin."

"My, my, you sure are bossy in the morning," Russell said with a smirk but remained in his place in the doorway.

"Can you tell why I'm here then?"

"Picked you up from a bar at four in the morning," he answered with a slightly more serious face on this time.

"What?"

"Yeah. Here I was asleep when I get a call from the bar saying that you were there, hammered drunk and way past you limit. So I dragged your ass here since it was closer and next thing I know is that you're passed out on _my_ bed and you wouldn't move your fat ass one inch! I had to sleep on the couch."

"Oh…sorry. I don't remember going to the bar though," Ed muttered, wincing at a small streak of light that came through the drapes.

"Really? Oh well, you apparently had a pretty interesting night though."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you finally broke up with Rose, man!"

"How'd you find out?"

"What do you mean 'how did I find out'? That sniveling thing _drunk-dialed _me last night, absolutely _bawling _and the only answers were either you died, her favorite store burned down, or you finally grew some balls and ended it."

"She drunk-dialed you?" Ed asked, slightly amused.

"Yeah. And let me tell you, it did not sound pretty. I think boss had to close shop today because none of his employees showed up."

"What do you mean? What time is it?"

"Like I said Drunky, it's almost noon. I thought about waking your ass up and forcing you to work as punishment for forcing me out into the night and making me sleep on the couch but you're one tough sleeper. I called both of us in sick but I'm gonna assume the Rose called in 'sick' too."

"Oh right."

"Geez! Don't sound so happy! It's not like you've been bitching to me about ending it for over a year now or anything!"

"No, that's not it," Ed mumbled as his eyes caught site of today's newspaper that was hanging limply in one of Russell's hands.

"Then what's up? Hangover? I'll go get you some aspirins," Russell said, beginning to turn around.

"No."

Ed began to force his body to move faster than his hangover wanted him to but he persisted. Once his feet hit the floor, it instantly felt like someone had placed the ground n a record player and he began to tumble over his own feet.

"Whoa!"

Russell reached out his empty hand and grabbed onto Ed's arm and pulled him into a standing position.

"What's the rush?"

"Lemme see the paper," Ed ordered as he gripped onto the newspaper.

"Okay."

After eyeing the front title for a second, his memory began to clear and Ed could remember what had bothered him so much last night.

_I remember now…shrapnel from the war hit the tracks. The war's spreading north…_

Suddenly Edward remembered what had happened last night. After seeing the tracks, he had called Alphonse but got no answer. As he was making his way back to his house, he decided to go for a quick drink at his favorite bar. Unfortunately, one drink quickly became two, then three, and before he knew what had happened, fifteen beers had come his way and that's where his memory stopped.

"Weird huh?" Russell said, pointing to the front page. "Don't know how a piece of shrapnel could have made it from the border. "I mean we're close but-."

"It didn't come from the border," Ed sighed before he collapsed onto the floor.

"What do you mean?"

"The war's moving," Ed said after a small pause. "North."

"What did you say?"

Ed knew that his friend did not mean for him to repeat what he had said so he continued to sit on the cold floor and waited for his friend to let what he had said. But Russell did not say much. He stood around awkwardly for a moment while he tried to straighten his thoughts before he sat down on the floor next to his friend and eloquently said, "This really sucks, man."

"Big time," Ed sighed before he forced his head up to get a better look at Russell. "At least you have some time to get out of this shit."

"So do you-."

"Russ, I really can't and you know it so stop it before I have to forcibly knock that concept into your brain," Ed growled as he held his head in his hands again.

"I know. I just like to think that you still could do it and get away with it."

"You, Fletcher, and Al still could but as for me…well, say hello to cadet Elric."

"I don't think that title really suits you," Russell commented causally after a slight pause. "How about Lieutenant Elric. Or Major Elric. You know, because you're a major pain in the ass."

"So what, now you're thinking that I'll stick around long enough to be promoted to Major?"

"No. I expect you to come home one Hell of a War hero so grand that they had to instantly promote you to Major."

"Great. And what amazing things do you expect me to have to do to get such a grand title so quickly?"

"Oh I don't know. Save a school full of little kids, kill an entire battalion by yourself, help led a counterstrike that will ultimately end the war you know…the usual. Then you can retire, find a girl who's _not_a psycho, spit out a couple out Ed-lits and then live to be a happy old man."

"Have my whole life planned out for me then?" Ed asked with a small laugh and a smirk.

"I wish. Then I could stop all this worrying shit and relax because I would know how it ended."

"Ha. But unfortunately, we all don't get what we want."

"Well if I could have one thing that I want to happen, I would choose you not dying over owning the biggest laboratory-slash-bar-slash-library that was on my own private island."

"Would there be a nacho fountain in this fantasy world?" Ed asked, knowing his friends favorite junk food.

"Four different cheeses."

"Wow, I feel loved."

"But really…don't get yourself killed," Russell turned his head away from his friend, most likely to hid the unusual amount of emotion that was displayed on his face. "I'll take care of Al and Fletcher so you won't need to worry about them while you're out there and that way you can focus better on staying out of trouble, alright?"

"Got it," Ed mumbled, pleased that he had finally gotten a solid answer to his request.

"Good. Now, I'll go get you something for your head," Russell said, punching himself off the ground.

"About damn time asshole. I thought you were gonna keep talking until my head split into two."

* * *

"I don't even understand why you're even mad at him Al," Fletcher said as he took his books out of his bag. "He's just trying to protect you."

"I'm not mad at him," Al sighed, collapsing onto his friends couch.

Alphonse and Fletcher had just arrived back to Fletcher's dorm room after their last class of the day. The two attended daily classes at the university in the next town over. Russell took a few classes but usually only had to be there a day or two every week, resulting in him buying an apartment in Resembool closer to his work while Ed continued to ignore further education since he graduated from school three years ago. Russell was technically Fletcher's roommate but Al found himself at the dorm more that his brother.

Al had been sullen the entire day, thinking about his brother and what they had fought about. He had not talked to his brother in over a day now but knew that he might as well stay there until the train tracks had been fixed, knowing that it would end up taking longer to get there by train than even walking. Alphonse had told Fletcher about their fight last night and every now and again, he would spring a part of the conversation onto Al, in hopes of getting him to talk about it.

"Then why aren't you talking to him?"

"I'd go back home but the stupid trains aren't-."

"I didn't ask you why you weren't home. I asked you why you haven't talked to him yet. You know that there's this pretty neat, new-fangled contraction called the telephone?" Fletcher said as he motioned to the phone that sat on the nearby table with more flourish than necessary.

"Shut up Fletcher," Al mumbled.

"Just stop acting like your brother already and say what you're really thinking because you're starting to get a bit annoying," he said as he sat down on the couch next to Al.

"He knows why I'm upset so why do I have to tell him to his face?"

"Well I'm a bit in the dark right now and I could really use some enlightenment from you."

Alphonse gave Fletcher a sour look, so reminiscing of Al's older brother that it was almost comical but he kept his trap shut.

"I'm mad at him because he won't even_ consider_ running away from being drafted. He won't even pretend to think about the idea," Al said in a voice close to a whisper. "And not only that, but he expects_ me_ to go run and hide, _thousands_ of miles away from him. Now how could I do that?"

"Again, he's just trying to protect you-."

"Well how about this scenario!" Al yelled, cutting across whatever Fletcher was saying. "What if_ Russell_ was being drafted and he told _you_ to run away and bring me and Ed along with you. What would you feel like? What would you do?"

Fletcher stared at his lap for a moment while he got his thoughts in order. What would he feel like? Would he try and force his brother to leave, knowing deep inside that he would probably never be able to coax his brother to run away?

"I would feel like crap," he answered honestly. "I wouldn't want to even think about losing my brother but instead of hiding in my friends' apartment, talking about how I wasn't angry at him," he gave Al a very look, "I would be by his side, enjoying the limited time we had together."

"I know…" Al sighed before he crumpled his face and placed it in his hands. When he spoke again, he sounded close to hysterics. "It's just that…it was hard enough when mom died. Losses in her in the accident…and then dad had to leave. It was just me and Ed for the longest time. And I don't think I could deal not knowing what he was going through and if he was alright! I can't lose the only family I have left!"

Fletcher wrapped a consoling arm around his friend's shoulders.

"It's not fair," Fletcher said. "But what you have to realize it that I'm sure that Ed is probably more scared than you are right now. He needs you even if he won't admit it."

Al's head wobbled in his hands that Fletcher assumed to be a nod. Neither said anything else for a while but when Al had finally regained his usual calm, he got up and began to walk towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

"Home. We don't have class tomorrow so I think it's best if I go home."

"Are you going to bring your stuff?" Fletcher asked with a smile while pointing to his brown book-bag that sat against the couch.

"Oh, right."

"Now get out of here and talk to your brother! I won't let you in here again until I know that you've talked."

* * *

"Ed? Are you home?" Alphonse said quietly as he stuck his head through their front door.

After about an hour of walking through the dense but familiar forest that separated the two towns, Al had arrived back in Resembool. He had stopped by at his brother's work but found that the store had closed early. There was no answer to his call but since the door was unlocked, Al had to assume that his brother was home since he had always been paranoid of people breaking into their house. Al set his things down on the kitchen table before he started to move through the house. He wasn't in the living room or his father's old study (for once), and he could see that he wasn't outside of the house either. It left only one real place for Ed to be: his bedroom.

"Ed?" Al asked tentatively as he knocked on the closed door. There was no answer but Al was sure that he could hear something on the inside. "Look, if you're going to try and ignore me, fine. But I just wanted to say that, that I'm sorry that I got mad at you. You were just trying to protect me but you have to understand that…that I'm scared for you. This war has done enough to our family and I don't want to be left here alone after it…" his voice had begun to shake again but he cleared his voice and tried his best to plow on without letting his emotions show. "I had a talk to Fletcher and, and I know what you _have_ to do and I know what I _should_ do and what you _want_ me to do. Now I don't want to leave here without you but…but if that's what you think is best I will."

There was still no response from his brother and it was beginning to annoy Al. He had apologized for what he had done and now he felt like Ed should be able to accept his apology like a grown up! Fed up, Al gripped onto the doorknob and began to open the door.

"Okay and you at least talk to me-?"

Snoring. That was the noise he had heard through the door. His older brother lay sprawled on his bed, sound asleep. Al had just practically poured his heart out and his brother was asleep?

"Oh, brother…" Al sighed with a smile before he walked over to his brother's bed and sat on the floor in front of it, waiting for him to wake up so that Ed would be able to hear his apology and explanation the second he woke up.

* * *

***Announcement* ****I have finally put up some FanArt that I drew and there are links up on my profile. I have a picture for the story as well as some for Brotherhood. Please check them out because I absolutely love the picture I drew for this story!**

**So Ed and Al made up! ...Kinda. And Russell promised Ed that he'd take care of Al when they all run away! I think that deserves a couple more reviews now don't you think so?**

**PLease send me a review!**

**-FSK**


	6. A Letter and a Plan

**Hi Readers!**

**Um, sorry for the wait. I've been busy with band camp and then I had some writers block but it left today and I was able to basically write all of the chapter today!**

**Things start to get serious...and confusing. So I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

The thick parchment felt like a million pounds in Edwards hands. The official looking stamps made Edward feel weak, for he knew that inside would most likely be his death sentence. His letter from the military had finally arrived, telling him where and when to report to Boot Camp. Taking a deep breath, Ed opened the envelope and pulled out the equally expensive paper.

Edward barely registered most of it. Bits and pieces of the letter floated through his brain; the part telling him to report to Eastern Command in a week, the part saying how Boot Camp would be a minimum of two months, that after he completed Boot Camp he would be allowed a week of visitation before he was sent to wherever he was sent. He could always hope that he would be one of the few that would not be shipped off to the front lines and would be redirected to do grunt work but he knew his hopes were slim. He was in his prime and the military knew it.

"Any mail brother?" Al asked, half of body was stuck inside of the fridge.

Almost a week had passed by since Ed and Al had made up. It was Sunday meaning both could stay home and relax, more like try to relax. Ever since they had made up, Al seemed more and more stressed while he continued to put on a big smile. Ed knew it was because they both knew that their time together was limited.

"Yeah," Ed said quietly; he would not try to create some blatant lie to help his brother; they both knew this was coming. "It came today." Ed added in an under tone, hoping that Al might not have heard it but unfortunately, he did.

Alphonse slowly pulled himself out of the fridge and turned to stare at his brother for a moment, looking lost and confused and it hurt Edward in a way he had not felt in years. Only his brother, with his eyes so wide and innocent-looking even though he was almost an adult too, could make Ed experience heartache like this.

Unsure of what else to do, Ed motioned to the kitchen table before he walked over to it and sat down. Al stayed frozen in his spot for a moment longer before he gave his head a little shake and sat down across from his brother.

Ed was starting to really hate the kitchen table where they sat. It was at this table that Ed had given out such bad news to his little brother: it was where he had tried to explain to his brother that there was no heaven for their mother to go to; where he had to sit him down and further explain to him that their father was basically abandoning them because the government told him to and was probably never going to come back; it was where he had just recently told him that the Draft had be reinstated and that he was going to be sent to war soon enough. And now, it was going to be where Ed made Al realize just how serious everything was getting around them.

_I think I'll have to burn this table one day if I ever have to deliver one more piece of bad news at it…_ Ed thought.

"…I guess you're really going," Al whispered, staring at his hands that where shaking slightly; whether it was from sadness or anger, Ed did not know for sure but had a feeling that it was going to be both.

"Of course I'm really going Alphonse," Ed whispered bitterly. "Did you honestly think that I would have run away?"

"…I hoped."

Edward looked at his brother. With his shaking hands folded on his lap, head down turned-most likely to conceal unwanted moisture in his eyes-, and chewing on his bottom lip he looked just like the Alphonse who sat there just seven years ago, after Ed had to him of their father's arriving departure from their lives, except for the fact that someone had blown him up to a taller and slightly more muscular build. How was he supposed to leave his brother looking so pathetic? Was this what their father had felt when he got a letter from the government? If so, he was beginning to hold a little less anger towards the man and replace it with a small fraction of understanding; this was no easy feat.

"I know you did Al," Ed sighed as he ran his fingers through his bangs. "I know you did…"

No other words were exchanged between the two. They continued to sit in a thick silence, neither one feeling like moving for a long time. Al only moved when the fire alarm began to shriek, announcing to the house that the fried eyes, left in the pan, had burned.

* * *

"So it came today?" Russell asked as he leaned on his mop.

Ed nodded slowly as he continued to restock the shelves in the small store.

Russell didn't even have to ask what was wrong with Edward when he stumbled into work earlier that morning. He had heard that a few people in town had received their letters but didn't know for sure if Edward had gotten his; there had been no answer at the Elric house yesterday.

"So when do you have to leave?"

"I have to be at Eastern Command in a week. Boot Camp will take at least two months and then I get a week's visitation before I'm shipped off to where ever I'm assigned to."

"_Two months_?" Russell asked in disbelief. "Well we'll just have to go up and see you."

"No you won't because you three will be long gone by the time I'm in Camp."

"Are you high man? We have to stay and at least be here until your visitations up!"

"But-."

"No buts you dip-shit, we'll be fine if we hang around for another two months. My birthday is not for another nine months and you _just_ turned eighteen. _Relax_, we'll be fine."

"Sorry…I'm just worried."

"It's understandable but won't it seem odd if you don't come home for your visitation week? I mean, since your dad is all inside of the government won't they have tabs on you and _expect_ you to come home?"

"Right," Ed sighed.

How could he not remember that the military was likely keeping tabs on him? If the government was watching him and his brother closely, that meant that it would probably be harder for Al and the other to escape.

_Dammit._

This meant that the three of them could not just go running blindly into the night. They had to have a secure plan that would leave plenty of room for explanation until it was too late to stop them. Edward had to remember that the three of them had school and jobs to look after, leaving bosses and teachers suspicious if they suddenly left.

"Hey Russell."

"Huh?"

"What are you guys going to do when I leave?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," Edward moved a step closer before he lowered his voice, "how are you guys going to escape?"

A blank expression came to Russell's face. How were they going to escape?

"I don't know," he admitted truthfully. "Wing it."

"Well that won't go too well since the military's been watching my family since I was eleven. There are plenty of people who would rat us out to the military without even realizing that they'd done it: your teachers, our boss, people in the neighborhood."

"So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that we have to come up with a plan, and fast because we've only got about a week to think it up together."

* * *

"Hey Al! You home yet?" Ed called as he and Russell walked in through the front door.

"Brother?" Al's muffled voice came down from the upper floor.

Two sets of footsteps told the two that Al had received their all from earlier and Fletcher had come along with Al. A moment later, Al and Fletcher appeared in the doorway, both looking eager but nervous.

"So why did you tell us both to come home?" Al questioned, taking a few steps towards his brother and their friend.

"We have to talk about what were going to do," Russell answered as he hung up his coat; his voice was quieter, as if he felt like the government could hear them. Ed couldn't help but get the same eerie feeling.

"You mean how we're going to escape?" Fletcher asked quietly.

"Yeah," Ed answered. "You guys just can't go and take a running start into the forest and hope on one catches you. There will be draft deserters running around and while you guys haven't been given your papers yet, I'm sure it will seem suspicious for someone like Russell."

"So what are we going to do?"

Before answering Ed crossed the room and let himself fall onto a seat on the couch; he was exhausted from his lack of sleep and lost appetite over the past week. After a moment of consideration the other's followed.

"We need…a plan," Edward said.

Fletcher and Alphonse exchanged slightly confused looks but didn't question Edward any further.

"Like Ed said," Russell began. "We can't just escape and hope no one notices we're missing for a while. People will be looking for us."

"So do you have any ideas?" Al asked.

"I have one," Ed answered. "It may be a bit odd when you think about it but it may give you a long enough alibi to save your asses for a while."

"What do you have?"

"Well it'll have to wait first of all because I won't be leaving for anther two months at least. But I was thinking that you could go on some sort of trip. You tell your boss, teachers, friends that you'll be gone for a month or so and…I don't know, you can make it look like your still where ever you're supposed to be when actually you're running away…"

Ed finished with a kind of awkward mumble before his face began to tinge pink.

"Ed, have you been drinking?" Al asked. "Because that was a ton of rambling you just did there."

"How are we supposed to be in two places at once?" Fletcher asked innocently.

"_I don't know_! But I don't hear you guys thinking up anything!" Ed exclaimed, voice cracking, while throwing his hands into the air. "I mean that you like, don't draw attention to yourself while you're where ever you're going so people won't really notice that you're not there anymore!"

"I think he is a little drunk," Russell stage whispered to the other two.

"_Be quiet!"_ Ed hissed through clenched teeth.

* * *

"How the Hell is this supposed to work?" Russell grumbled in the mouth of his bottle.

"Sheer dumb luck?" Al muttered.

"Perfect," Russell muttered. "More like dumb luck and a nice paycheck."

"Hey don't you guys have to work tomorrow?" Fletcher asked, glancing at the clock. "And by tomorrow I mean in about three hours."

Edward and Russell exchanged tired expressions but simply shrugged. The four teens had worked into the early morning, trying to come up with a plausible escape plan for the three of them. They knew that they were close to getting everything under control but not one of them could really fall asleep now that their veins were pumping with adrenaline.

Their plan of escape would be simple and was based off of Ed's original garbled plan. Russell, Alphonse, and Fletcher would claim to go on a vacation after Edward's visitation was up. They would pay in advance for a few weeks and lay low the first week they were there before departing. The three would flee towards Xing through the Great Desert without using any forms of public transportation. But here was where things began to get a bit sticky; they would have to rely on one other person to stay in their vacation room, ordering room service, making it appear as if someone had been staying there, and creating noise: Rose.

It was now that Ed and the other realized how little they had when it came to people they truly trusted. Sure, they had a feeling that Rose might blab when it came to a government official with a gun, staring her in the face and thretening her to tell where they had gone (which was an understandably scary situation) but they knew how she worked. Only two things could keep her there and confuse the government if and when she would be forced to tattle: money and giving her false information.

Alphonse had come up with the idea of telling her that they would be departing towards the West and into Creta. A plan that was not anywhere near fool-proof but better than actually telling Rose where they had gone.

_It's our best, and really only, hope,_ Ed thought as he let out a loud yawn. _She has to help us or we are screwed._

They would all just have to hope that a free stay at a nice Hotel would be a nice enough compensation for her when Edward and Russell asked her later today.

* * *

**Hmm...will Rose step up and agree to help them? Am I suddenly going to write Rose in a good light? Perhaps. You'll just have to find out.**

**I'll try to make the wait on the next chapter shorter!**

**-FSK**


	7. Shipping Off

**Hello readers…I am very tired… it's like three in the morning and I got seven hours of sleep last night.**

***yawns* I decided to stay up and update this chapter today instead of going to bed since I updated my other two stories and was on a roll when I started this…**

**Um, I'd like to thank my amazing new Beta Dani-Chan Replika 2.06 for editing this chapter.**

* * *

"Do you seriously think this is going to work?" Edward hissed as the slowly made their way over to the counter.

"Sure it will," Russell whispered.

"She fucking hates my guts!"

"How would you know that? You two haven't been to work together since the break up."

"Which was about two days ago idiot!"

"So? She probably knows you got your draft papers and now she'll feel all bad for you! Just go up there and get to the point before she hits you."

"Fine," Edward said before he marched forwards to towards the counter. "Um, Rose?"

"What do you want?" she snapped, glaring at him.

"Well…let me just get to the point: I need your help."

Rose threw her head back and laughed derisively at Edward.

"You know what? You sure do have a lot of nerve asking me for help after you just crushed my heart. No, whatever it is no-."

"Let me rephrase it then: I need your help to help my brother Al, Russell, and his brother Fletcher."

"Huh?"

"Just come back to the back room with me for a moment and I'll explain."

Rose stared at Edward for a moment before she looked around the deserted store for a moment before she sighed and walked around the counter and over to Edward, who looked extremely relieved.

"Five minutes."

Once they were both in the back room, Rose sat down on a stack of cardboard boxes and crossed her arms. Edward chose to lean against the opposite wall while Russell stood by the door, ready to go and appear to be working if he heard a customer come in.

"So…I _was_ drafted," Edward decided to start with this.

Rose's eyes softened and her murderous aura seemed to dissipate and was quickly replaced by one of pity and sadness.

"Yeah, I always knew that I would get drafted; no chance of running away for me. But you see, Russ and his brother and my brother still have time to make a break for it before they turn eighteen."

"So what am I supposed to do?" sniffed Rose. "Run away with them?"

"Not quite," Russell said.

"You see, people will notice if three teenage boys who will be turning eighteen soon go missing. We came up with this idea where basically, after I leave it will appear as if the three of them have gone away for vacation. They'll stay at a hotel for a week but have a room booked there for a few weeks."

"So what do I do?" Rose asked, sounding more intrigued than annoyed now.

"Well as I said, they won't stay at the hotel the entire time but the hotel people will notice if suddenly there isn't any noise or room service bills or anything coming from the room. So I wanted to ask you if you'd take off a week or two and go to the hotel after they've left. We'll pay for all of the expenses and all you need to do is make noise, make messes, and make it look like they're still staying there. What do you think?"

Rose switched glances from Edward to Russell and back while Edward and Russell held their breaths. Several minutes passed where no one spoke before Rose talked.

"You'll pay for _everything_?"

"Yes. Every last room service bill, every last spa treatment," Edward answered.

"How?"

"I'll give you my pin number."

"What?" Russell asked. "Have you gone mad man?"

"No. I won't be needing the money that much once I've been shipped off and you probably won't be able to do that much shopping once they've realized you're a draft deserter."

"But what the Hell are we supposed to do? Eat…_bark?_"

"No you dip-shit. I'll give you all plenty of money before hand but I think they'd monitor my account once I'm gone and they realize that you're gone too. You could probably use it until Rose checks out of the hotel but after that you'll just have to be careful."

"You'll really give me your pin number?" Rose asked.

"Yeah."

"So you're bribing me?"

"Kinda but, don't you want to be bribed?" Ed asked in disbelief.

"Well sure, it helps. But I get the feeling that you guys don't think I'd help you if I didn't get something out of it."

"Well…"

"Um…"

"You two honestly believed that I wouldn't do something that might save your lives just because I'm mad at you?" Rose asked, sounding more like she was asking herself.

"But, you'll still do it? I mean, you don't have to blow _all_ my money but you can-."

"I'll do it."

"Huh?"

"I said that I'd do it!" Rose yelled. "Geez…way to make me feel like a complete bitch. I might be pissed at you and say that I want you to get hit by a car or something but I don't actually want any of you to die!"

Rose eyes suddenly filled up with tears and soon began to spill over, tears rolling down her tan skin. Edward and Russell looked at each other, both pleased she had agreed but very confused all the same. Edward's confusion only increased when Rose stood up and threw her arms around Ed in a neck-snapping hug.

"Um…Rose?" Ed asked, blushing profusely.

"I don't want you to die okay?" She said between sobs. "So don't die. Just get yourself hurt enough to come home but not so serious that you do permanent damage."

"Right. I'll make sure to get just the right amount of injured," Edward joked.

"I'm serious," Rose mumbled before she kissed Ed on the check and let go; she then turned to look at Russell. "And you better not get caught or let one of the others starve to death."

"Right. I'll also try to not get them eaten by a bear or kidnapped and shipped into slavery," Russell said with a smirk before Rose slapped him upside the head.

"Ow! How come he always get hugs and some waterworks and I always get hit?"

"Because you're an asshole Russ," Ed answered. "You should've known that already."

"Yeah, yeah. I hate all of you," Russell grumbled before walking through the doors and in to the store.

* * *

The rest of the day went by quickly. Rose had stopped being angry towards Edward, and Russell by association, and they all worked together nicely. Their boss gave Edward some pleasant news when he stopped by at the end of the day; he had granted Ed the rest of the week off so he could spend time with his brother and friends. It was a nice gesture and he accepted it, even though all of his friends were busy during the day and he'd have no one to talk to.

When he told Alphonse the news, Al told him that he did not have anything Friday and had gotten out of school on Thursday as well, leaving only one day of lonesome for Edward.

Wednesday morning, Ed woke up a bit later than usual and stayed in his pajamas during breakfast. After lounging around the house for a bit, something that he never really did, Ed got dressed and went out for a walk. Edward let his feet take him where they wanted, not paying attention to what he was going. He only looked up when he saw in the distance many small white structures, sticking out of the ground.

His feet had taken him to the cemetery.

Shaking his head at the oddness, Edward moved forwards until he was in front of the one grave he spent many hours by but had not spent much time at all lately. After letting out a quiet sigh, Ed collapsed onto the cold, hard in front of the tombstone.

"Hi mom," Ed said quietly. "I know it's been a while…but I'm afraid I probably won't be able to see you again for a while.

"You see…the war, you know the war…you got killed because of it just when it was a tiny rebellion," Ed's fists clenched in anger at the memory of his mothers, along with a few other people from town, innocent deaths. "But it's gotten pretty big since then and…well, I'm going to war."

Saying the words out loud made them seem all too real for Edward. His heart rate quickened, his palms began to sweat slightly, and all of the fear that he had keep bottled up and moved out of sight seemed to explode; because in truth, Edward was terrified at the idea of him going out to war. Not just because he had the strong possibility of not coming back but because he would have to kill not just fellow soldiers but innocent people.

"I'm making sure that Alphonse will be safe though," Ed said, voice shaking. "We came up with this plan for him and a few of our friends Russell and Fletcher-you remember them right? Russ is about six months younger than me and Fletcher's about two years younger than me- but they're going on the run with Al too.

"But…I'm scared Mom…and not just for me. I'm scared about what could happen to Al and the guys if they get caught. Who knows how long I'll have to stay in the army…if I don't die…I don't really want to die Mom…"

Edward was not sure how much longer he sat there in front of his mother's grave, but when he finally got up Edward was freezing and his muscles were stiff. The sun made Ed realize that it was about one o'clock in the afternoon. Once his stomach gave a rather loud rumble, Ed let out a small laugh and began to walk for home.

* * *

Both he and Alphonse slept in well past their usual wake-up times the next two days. They ate breakfast, or more like brunch, before doing some sort of activity together. Whether it be reading or talking or going for a walk, they were usually side by side. Al continued to talk of a going away party that Russell had been thinking up no matter how much Ed argued that he did not want one; he was not leaving for good now and it was not like they could not visit him during boot camp.

But when Saturday night rolled around, Ed found himself in the center of his favorite bar in town, being offered drinks left and right. It turns out that the entire town had created a sort of going away party for those who were leaving. There were a few other kids in town who were leaving but Ed was the only one leaving Sunday; the others would be joining him within a week or two.

Even though Ed knew that he was going to be leaving the very next day, he was having a great time, drinking and laughing with his friends and fellow towns-people. Drink after drink, Ed continued to loosen up until he, along with many other intoxicated bar mates, had almost completely forgot about the next day. The last thing he remembered was falling out of his set and onto the dirty floor, laughing hysterically at something someone had said. When he opened his eyes, he found himself lying in bed, back at home. By the door was his suitcase, fully packed and ready to leave with him.

Ed looked at the small clock that sat on the nightstand; it was only nine o'clock but his train tickets were for eleven. He could hear Al in the kitchen, making noises and breakfast while he probably tried not to cry.

He was really leaving for Boot Camp…

Pushing himself out of bed, doing his best to ignore his hangover, Edward began to get ready for the day-long trip to Eastern Command and to Boot Camp where he'd spend the next two months, learning to kill fellow human beings with his own hands.

* * *

**Next time, Ed's gonna be in Boot Camp.**

**Ugh…I'm gonna go to sleep now…**

***snores…***

**-FSK**


	8. Eastern Command

**T~T ...it's my last day of summer vacation... So I decided to do a mass update for all of my stories today! (sorry if this is the third time you've read this message today.)**

**So, sorry the last chapter was a bit rushed but I had to pick up the pace of the story. ****Again, thank you Dani-Chan for correcting all of my mistakes that I had in this chapter! **

**Enjoy.**

* * *

Half of the town of Resembool had accompanied Edward to the train station that morning; Ed tried his best not to let his true emotions show on his face. He kept trying to remind himself that this was just Boot Camp and he would not actually be going to war for a while now.

_Well then why is everyone acting like I'm going off? _Ed thought._ It's not like I'm going to Southern Command where the war is practically right next door._

Once he had finally reached the train station, no one spoke much of anything to him. Ed did not think he would have heard any of it even if they did, his mind was in a completely different place. Turning to look at his brother, he was glad that Alphonse had managed a strong look; he didn't know what would happen if Al was showing any weakness on his face.

"Don't worry," Ed said. "I'll be back soon."

"I'll come and visit you," Al said sternly.

"Of course you will," Ed said with a smile before he hugged his brother tightly; he then looked over his brother's shoulder to look at his small group of friends. "You guys better stay out of trouble while I'm here. I don't know if I can bail you out of jail when I'm hours away."

"Okay man, you only had to bail me out like, one time," Russell said.

"It was two times," Ed corrected. "And you still owe me for the last one."

"Whatever," Russell said with a smirk as Al let go off him.

"Make sure to call Ed," Fletcher said quietly with sad eyes.

Ed reached forwards to ruffle the younger boys' blond locks with a smile; the kid reminded Ed so much of a younger Al, even though the kid was practically the same age as his brother. He always seemed to look much younger than his actual age.

"I'll call when I get settled in," Ed said.

"And remember," Rose said, looking teary-eyed but her face was set in an unwavering mask, "_we_ can't bail _you_ out of jail if you get in trouble."

"Right," Ed said before he gave her a quick hug.

The loud train whistle stopped any last wishes of 'good luck' to be drowned out as Ed stepped off the platform and onto the train. People continued to talk to him through the window but as more and more warning whistles came, it was getting harder to understand any of them. All he cared about was making sure that he did not show any of the twisting emotions he worked hard to keep under wraps and to make sure that Al did not see through this as he usually did.

Finally, the train began to lurch forwards and before Ed knew it, Resembool station was only a small and quickly diminishing blob in the background. Finally feeling as if he could let out a small bit of emotion, Ed let out a sigh and rubbed his face with both of his hands.

_You'll be fine…_ Ed thought. _Maybe in two months something will happen and the war could almost be over._

Unfortunately that fleeting thought would turn out to be completely wrong when he would finally get to the battlefield in two months time.

* * *

The train car was completely empty when Ed got in it this morning but was slowly filling up with a few people hear and there as he made his way over to Eastern Command. He could always tell when another man forced into war by the draft was coming on the train; there was always a group of well-wishers like the ones who had come to see Ed off.

The ride to Eastern command would take almost an entire day to get there and by mid-day Edward was already bored to death by the monotonous train ride and the never-ending open plain scenery. He had packed several books with him in his beaten brown suitcase but had already torn through half of them and knew he should not read all of the books in one sitting. Ed had also visited the dinning cart several times during his trip and was already beginning to miss his brother's cooking; Al cooked just as good as their mother had.

As the sun went down and the starts and moon began to shine brightly in the dark sky, more and more passengers began to fall to sleep but Edward could not, no matter how hard he tried. A few times during the night they stopped at a few desolate stations but never picked up anyone new. Not until they had reached one of the last stops before Eastern Command did they pick up anyone new.

Ed knew instantly that the guy was another recruited person for the war. He wore the same look Ed did when he did while a woman, presumably his mother, hugged him as she wiped her own tears.

The man decided to come onto Ed's compartment of the train and sit down in the row next to Ed. Glancing over at the man, Ed saw that he had short light blond hair, sharp blue eyes, had a muscular build but had to be at least six inches taller than himself. Once the train started moving, he dug into his coat pockets and pulled out a cigarette and a lighter. After he had taken a drag, the man turned to look at Ed and his suitcase.

"You drafted too?" he asked in a slightly muffed voice do to the cigarette that was resting in-between his lips.

"Yeah," Ed answered, giving the man a once over again.

He looked like he spent his entire life on a face doing hard work; he'd probably do well in Boot Camp. The man then leaned across the isle and put out a hand as his face split into a goofy grin, as if they were meeting on less serious circumstances.

"Jean Havoc."

"Edward Elric," Ed said, accepting Jean's hand and shaking it.

"So where are you from?"

"Resembool."

"Never heard of it."

"Doesn't surprise me," Ed said with a fond smile. "It's a speck on the map about a day travels from East City."

"Oh," Jean said before he took another drag of his cigarette; Ed noticed that he had the curtsey to open up the window next to him and knock the ashes outside.

"How old are you?" Ed asked after a moment of silence between the two men. Jean didn't look to be eighteen on the dot but could not have been much older than Ed.

"Twenty. You?"

"Just turned eighteen this winter," Ed said.

"Man, that's rough," Jean said sympathetically.

"Yeah, but it's not like you got a much better deal. They've been seriously discussing reinstating the draft for a good four years now."

"Yeah but still," Jean said with a shrug. "All my mom's been talking about for the past three years now was how the military would never do anything like that. Don't want to think about the face she made when she found out that they were gonna do it…"

Jean's face lost its relaxed quality of it and was replaced with a saddened, pained looked. Ed could easily relate.

"I tried to hide the news from my brother," Ed supplied to the man, hoping to distract him from his woes.

"Really? How'd that work out?"

"No very well. It lasted for all of five minutes."

"Nice," Jean said with a smirk. "How olds your brother?"

"Seventeen."

"You really did get cut a raw deal."

"Uh-huh," Ed said, thinking about all of the things that had happened to him and his family over the years.

"So is he gonna come too?"

Ed only shrugged to this answer, earning a knowing smirk from Jean as he took another drag of his cigarette.

"So we've got a runner," Jean said.

Ed knew it was best not to try and refuse what he had said; Jean was probably given at least a few offers on hiding places and had been told to run away like people told Ed to do.

"Yeah…but he doesn't really want to."

"He actually _wants_ to fight in the war?" he asked in disbelief.

"No, not really. He just doesn't want to be considered a coward or whatever…but I told him he had to. And he's gonna."

"So did your parents help persuade your brother at all?"

Ed let out a small sigh as he thought of the right words to say. He didn't get any horribly sad pains like he used to when strangers asked of his parents. Finally after a long enough pause, Ed answered.

"Actually both of my parents aren't there anymore," Ed said as he turned to look Jean in the face as his quickly tried to change to one of sympathy and sorrow. "Quit it with that face you're giving me."

"Sorry…but, so they're both dead?" Jean asked quietly.

"No. Only my mom."

"So…did your dad leave you or something? You don't have to answer if it's a touchy subject or something," Jean added quickly.

"It's fine. But my dad didn't really leave us; at least, not by choice," Ed said before letting out a heavy sigh and sliding down the bench so that he would not have to talk as loudly. "Do you remember back at the beginning of the war when there was the new piece about taking the countries best scientists and shoving them into labs to help make weapons of mass destruction?"

"Kinda. I heard that this one guy a few towns over had to go to Central," Jean said with another shrug. "Some sob story about him leaving and being forced to abandon his kids, my mom didn't stop talking about it for a month…got kinda annoying after a while-what?"

Jean stopped when he saw Ed shake his head slightly while a sad smile came to his face, leaving Jean confused.

"What?" Jean asked again, cigarette bud threatening to fall out of his open mouth.

"I'd pay big money to say that that was my family."

"Huh?"

"My dad was forced to go to Central when I was twelve," Ed said.

"Oh…uh, I'm sorr-."

"It's fine," Ed said as he held up a hand to silence the man. "We were always pretty self-sufficient kids and it wasn't like we had to get jobs or anything; he sent us about half of his monthly paycheck so we were fine."

"You had to take care of yourself and your younger brother when you were only twelve? Man…that sucks. Sure does make me feel like a lazy ass as well since I'm pretty sure the biggest thing I had to deal with at twelve was puberty."

Ed laughed lightly at this comment. He had to admit that he did like Jean; he kinda reminded Ed of Russell in the way that both blond boys held this relaxed air about them.

* * *

The two talked for a bit more until they could begin to make out the outlines of East City's buildings. East City station was a crowded mess with disgruntled daily commuters and people looking for family members. Jean suggested that the two of them try to stay together in the mess until they fought their way out of it.

"Where the hell do we go now?" Jean asked as he tried to hail a taxi.

"The letter told me to go to Eastern Command center; I'm sure they'll have something to tell draftees what the Hell we're supposed to do."

"Sounds like a plan," Jean said as he finally managed to hail a cab.

The ride to Eastern Command took longer due to the morning's daily traffic. The taxi driver was an old man who questioned if they had been recruited for the war and instantly began to rant and rave about the madness of the war until they had reached their destination.

"Stay safe boys," he said before he left, car tires spitting up a bunch of sand and dust into their faces.

Eastern Command was a very large and impressive structure that stood in the very center of the town. The sand and dirt of the desert, that seemed to cover most of the town, diminished the buildings intimidating architecture and gave it a less threatening feel to it.

Barely a moment after the cab driver had dropped them off the two were hustled over to a large open ground where a large group of people stood. Several tables stood in a row, each having a line of men behind them. They were supposed to get into the lines according to their last name; this was where Edward and Jean had to split up momentarily. After waiting in line for several minutes, Ed gave the military person working the E-F table his name, he was given the barrack name for his bunk and basic directions on how to get there.

"Yo Ed!" Jean called as Ed walked away from the table and the disgruntled worker. Ed allowed the man to catch up with him. "What barrack did you get?"

"Uh, D-block."

"Me too," Jean said with a relieved grin.

Together the two set out towards their barrack, both secretly relieved that they would not have to take this first day completely alone. Edward had never been very far away from Resembool and had only ever gone to East City when he was young with his family and could hardly remember anything about the trip except for the delectable chocolate cake he ate at a restaurant and how Al had cried almost the entire way to the city.

Their barrack was a large one-story non-descript building. Entering it, Ed saw that it held row after row of bunk-beds, some with footlockers and suitcases standing by it, others completely bare except for plain white sheets and a pillow. A man wearing a t-shirt and army pants walked over to the two.

"New recruits?" he asked in a bored voice; Ed and Jean nodded. "Alright. So, pick any bed, keep it clean and make it every morning or else the sergeant will have my head. I'm the head of this barrack by the way. My name's Cadet Breighden Marshal and if you have any complaints I'd really rather not hear you whine after today, got it? So ask any questions while you can. At the other end of the room there's the wash room and latrine. Curfew's eleven but we really don't start until next Monday so…enjoy your free time while you've got it."

Cadet Marshal then turned on his heal and moved to lie on his own bunk that sat near the door. Jean looked at Ed, who shrugged and went to put his bags on the lower bunk of a bed a few rows down.

"Mind if I take the top?" Jean asked as he tossed his knapsack onto the bed.

"As long as you don't fart too much in your sleep," Ed quipped as he begun to arrange his things comfortably around his bed.

"Ha-ha and I only fart a bunch if I've had too much Cretian food," Jean said with a cocky grin before he climbed on top of his bed.

Ed shook his head at the guy before he ducked down and climbed onto his own bed. Finally feeling able to sleep for a bit, Ed closed his eyes and let his mind drift off, wondering about what Alphonse and the others were doing in his absence.

* * *

**This chapter was so easy to write, which was a really good thing. ****I loved writing Ed and Jean's conversations.**

**Well again I'm sorry to say that updates will slow down now that school is starting up and I have no idea when I'll be able to update this again but whenever I get the chance, I'll try to get the new chapter up.**

**Ugh...screw school...**

**-FSK**


	9. Bombing of the Barracks

**Um...hi everyone. Sorry for the late update. But...busy with school and reading awesome books.**

**But seriously, the first full week of school, it was like we were already in school for two months now! I had four tests in one week! And I kinda had to study for a few of them so I couldn't always go home and go straight to the computer...even though I wanted to. :)**

**But here's chapter nine and I hope you like it. Thanks a bunch to my beta Dani for her awesome job on edits. :)**

* * *

"We should go out," Jean mused later that day as he lay on the top bunk, long legs hanging off the front.

"Why?" Edward asked, reading a book on his own bunk.

The building was almost empty. Cadet Marshal had run out a while ago saying something of going out to town. A group of men left with the Cadet leaving Edward and Jean alone in the barracks with only a few more new recruits who were all sitting on their respective bunks.

"Because we're in Eastern City, we have an entire week to relax before we get out asses handed to us for two months, so let's go out and get wasted!"

"Sounds like a great plan," Ed muttered sarcastically. "But really, unlike you, I had to try and sleep on the train. I'm beat."

"Aww…come on you wimp!" Jean said as he turned so he was staring at Ed upside-down. "Hey if you manage to drink me under the table, I won't make you go out again."

"Well that all depends on how good of a drinker you are," Edward muttered, turning a page in his book.

"Oh, I suck man," Jean said heavily while nodding. "Five year-old girls can drink me under the table.

Edward turned his head to look Jean in the eyes and knowing immediately that he was lying through his teeth.

"You are so full of crap Havoc," Ed said with a smile as he placed a book mark in his book. "But I'll take you up on your offer anyways."

* * *

East City was more crowded than anything Edward could have ever expected. Unfortunately, neither Jean nor Ed really knew where they were going and had the misfortune of picking a number of unusual and unwanted bars. The first had an ominous air to it the second you stepped through the double doors. They left only five minutes later after a burly biker, who looked like he should belong on a wanted poster for only the most heinous crimes, thought Jean was eyeing his girl, which he was, and told him to meet him outside. Ed did not know that man could run so fast. The second bar they went to seemed alright from the outside but after carefully eyeing the patrons of the bar, both Ed and Jean quickly realized that the bar in question was indeed a transvestite bar. After Ed was hit on by several different people and after Jean was asked if Ed was his date, the two quickly fled the scene. The third bar was alright, a little too sports centered for Ed's tastes but it was easily the best by far. Everything seemed to be fine until Jean ordered a drink.

"A buck for a drink?" Jean yelled in outrage.

"It's the inflation kid," the old bar man growled. "Deal with it."

"That's not inflation! That's madness!"

"Well you're going to find it the same everywhere else so just shut up and get a drink."

"Jean, just buy the damn drink," Ed growled, sipping on his own beverage. He too had been annoyed with the prices but got over it.

"No way, it was only fifty cents down at the Red Rose," Jean muttered.

"You mean that Trany Bar?" laughed the old man. "Well yeah they charge less. It's so they can fill up tourists like you before you realize that they're not what you think they are!"

"We aren't just any tourist old man!" Jean yelled, ignoring the other half of the sentence completely. Jean then threw his arm around Ed's shoulder and pulled him in tight, forcing Ed to slop some of his drink. "Me and my friend here are going off to war soon!"

"Don't drag me into this," Ed muttered, pushing away from Jean's tight hold.

"Well since you're in the little Boot Camp, I suggest you go down to Aces on 4th avenue where all of the other army rats go and hang out."

"Oh…thanks," Jean said after a pause before he walked outside the front door, Ed traveling close behind him.

"That was ridiculous," Ed sighed as the made there way towards the recommended bar.

"No way was I going to pay a dollar for a beer. Not all of us have government scientist fathers to pay for such luxuries."

"Jean, you speak like you lived in a soup kitchen for your entire life."

"And how do you know if I have or not?"

"Because I saw your mother when you got on the train and she was rather well dressed for someone who would be living in a soup kitchen."

"Well…it's not like we're rolling in it!"

"Yeah but bars like those are meant to steal all of your money dumbass."

"Oh shut up you runt," Jean said with a cocky grin as he slapped a hand on the top of Ed's head, a whole five inches below his own.

Edward gritted his teeth before he aimed a hard punch into Jean's side and continued to walk forwards as the other gasped for air for a moment.

They arrived at Aces a few minutes later. The small bar held a warm feeling to it, just like the bars back in Resembool. There were no murderous-looking bikers or their sub-par girlfriends, no horribly over-priced drinks, and no obvious transvestites. Ed and Jean took empty seats at the bar and were quickly attended to a young and attractive bar-maid.

"What can I get for you young gentlemen?" she asked pleasantly.

The women couldn't have been much older than Edward or Jean and was probably just a bit shorter than Edward. She had dark chocolate colored hair with soft and obviously natural curls. She had large dark eyes that shine deep with kindness.

"Just a beer for now," Ed said with a small smile as he slapped down two coins onto the bar.

"You got it handsome. And you?"

"Same here," Jean said with an obvious flirting smile.

Then, a familiar voice called out to the two and they turned to see Cadet Marshal standing behind them. Jean instantly tensed at the look he was giving him; the trip to the biker bar seemed to have left a damaging effect on Jean.

Cadet Marshal had changed out of his army sweats and had donned a green button up, which matched his emerald eyes, and blue-jeans. His sandy hair was pushed back from his face and his face had blond stubble. He was about Jean's height and had a rather muscular build. His face was stern but Ed could tell that he did not want to really hurt wither one of the two men.

"So you guys decided to come out for a drink? I see you have a good taste in bars seeing as this is one of the best places in East City."

"The best cheap place in East City," the barmaid said with a smile to the Cadet as she placed two foaming mugs of beer on the counter for Jean and Ed.

"Well it's defiantly got the best barmaid in all of Amestris," he said with a smile before he leaned over the counter and kissed the women, she returned the kiss much to Jean's displeasure.

"I guess I can't argue with you there," she said with a smile once they broke the kiss.

"As you two are in my barracks and we'll most likely be seeing lots of each other, I guess I should introduce you to my lovely fiancée Estelle."

"Hello," Ed said with a smile. "Edward Elric."

"Nice to meet you Edward."

"Jean," he said, half-heartedly.

"Good to meet you too Jean."

"See you later," the Cadet said, kissing Estelle's cheek. "And you two better watch yourself around this nice woman."

"Right," Jean said quick nod.

"Gotcha," Ed muttered, diving into his beer.

Estelle watched her fiancé disappear into his own cloud of friends before she turned to Edward and Jean.

"Breighden's really overprotective of me," she said with a smile. "But I guess he just wants to make sure I don't get taken advantage of by some drunk."

"Understandable," Ed said with a shrug.

"But he is really good with leadership so you're lucky he's in charge of you barrack."

"How long has he been here?" Jean asked.

"Well he's lived in East City his entire life but he's been working as an enlisted man for a few years now," she said before letting out a tired sigh. "He says that as long as he stationed here and doing well the army will most likely let him stay here and not be sent to the battle field. I just hope he's right."

Edward and Jean did not know what to do for the young woman, so they simply gave her smiles and empty words of encouragement that seemed to help her; it was likely that she was used to this treatment but accepted it all the same.

The bar slowly filled up as the hours ticked closer and closer to midnight. Breighden had bought the entire bar rounds twice and Ed and Jean seemed to be able to match each other drink for drink. Around one in the morning, people started to lose their heads and had to be escorted out by a surprisingly strong Estelle. Ed and Jean departed with the rest of the army recruits and stumbled their way back to their respective barracks.

* * *

Edward could just make out the image of Breighden collapsed on his own bunk, so deep into sleep that you might assume he was dead. Jean was moaning and groaning about a headache above Edward, along with a few other recruits on the room. Ed's head throbbed slightly but was not much of a bother; he had gotten used to drinking a lot lately and his tolerance for the alcohol was growing.

A loud horn cut across the whole of Eastern Command a few minutes later, waking up those who had been blissfully asleep and causing those who were just beginning to nurse their hangovers to cry out and cover their hyper-sensitive ears.

Ed glanced at his watch that he set on his trunk and saw that it was fifteen minutes past nine in the morning. What could be making such a noise at an odd time like this?

"Siren!" Breighden shouted as he sprung up from his bed. "Siren! Everyone! Follow me."

Breighden stumbled and swayed slightly as he got up and walked to the other side of the room but quickly gained his footing. Most of the other men were still laying in bed, confused at his hurried actions.

"What's going on?" a sleepy voice asked.

"That's an air raid signal. We have to get to the bunker underneath here quickly."

"Air raids?" Ed muttered in confusion.

Edward quickly grabbed his watch and shoved it in his pocket before he got up and began to quickly follow after Breighden.

"What do you mean Air Raids? We haven't heard anything of Air raids."

"They've started to try and bomb the major cities but they've never been that successful. They usually end up dropping them too early and they end up hitting empty fields or small towns' way off course. They don't do it often but when they do we have to get under cover. So get down there right now Elric."

Edward stood frozen for a moment; it felt as if a huge block of ice had fallen into the pit of his stomach as he thought of a memory he tried his best to suppress.

_It was a warm day. There was a soft breeze that stopped it from becoming just too hot. Almost all inhabitants of Resembool were outside and in town, enjoying the annual Spring Sheep Festival. _

_Edward and Alphonse had been allowed to have their run of the fair by themselves for a while as their parents walked around alone. They had been laughing and gorging themselves on fried lamb when they heard it._

_The loud, ground breaking sound as it slammed into the earth and set fire to plenty in its path. Screams erupted out of everyone as pandemonium broke lose at the festival._

_Edward clutched tightly onto his younger brother's hand and began to fight the crowd to find his parents. And then, appearing out of the crowd was his father. But…his mother was no where to be seen. And Edward had never seen his father look so terrified._

"Elric!"

Edward shook his head and looked around at his surroundings. He seemed to have blacked out for a moment but not for long, there was still a couple of scrambling cadets pulling themselves from their beds. Jean stood next to him and had a hand on Ed's shoulder. Breighden stood in front of him, looking confused and concerned.

"I'm fine," Edward muttered as he moved forwards and towards the small set of stairs that led to the basement.

He didn't want to think about that day anymore but the more he tried to push it out of his mind the more it seemed to resurface, each time with more clarity than the times before. He hated that day but as the memory finally seemed to subside, a new fear tore threw him with venom. What if the bombers would miss again and let the bomb fall somewhere far off track again? What if it hit Resembool once more?

* * *

**Dun-dun-duh. But yeah, there's a little flash back into Ed's past. :( I think I may grow a bit on it later, cause I like writing it.**

**Please review to guilt me into updating this story a lot sooner! **

**Thank you Labor Day...or I might not have finished this.**

**-FSK**


	10. Boot Camp Basics

**YAY! CHAPTER 10!**

**Hello readers! Thanks for the reviews I got last chapter and sorry for the bit of the wait on this one. Been busy.**

**But I really, really love this chapter and I hope you do too. ^^ I think I love it so much just because it's just so different from everything else I've written. I also like to thank once again my awesome Beta Dani for her editing on this chapter because without her... I probably wouldn't have this up until tomorrow.**

**Enjoy. ^.^**

* * *

They were down in the basement for over six hours. It was a false alarm. No bombing planes were flying anywhere across Amestris. The plane turned out to be just a reconnaissance plane.

No one really spoke, no one moved from their spot on the floor for the longest time. A few men would mumble a complaint here and there before Breighden or someone else would put them in line. It was claustrophobic in the tiny, dark basement. The room reeked of mildew, rotting meat, and sweat and with the temperature slowly rising with the mass of human bodies did not help their suffering any.

After everyone in the boot camp had been placed underground, everything seemed to sound deadly silent. Edward could not help but picture the lively streets of East City, empty and just as silent, looking like a ghost town to anyone left outside. He wondered if all of the basements in the barracks were this horrid or if it was just theirs. He wondered when they would finally be allowed out. And he wondered if there was anyway they could go to a bathroom as he felt the need to use the bathroom increase. His question was answered when he heard the pleasant sound of liquid hitting the bottom of an old coffee can; this added to the lovely smells that were already ruminating in the dank basement.

Some time into their confinement, a chorus of gurgling stomachs sounded, reminding the men just how long they had been trapped. The men started to become horribly restless and not even Breighden would reprimand them when their volumes increased; he seemed to be muttering something about his fiancé and if she was somewhere safe.

People asked and asked if their was even a plane or if this was just a drill, if they were going to get out before dinner, if they could find anything edible in one of the many crates that littered the basement floor, if they could even get some water. But not until mid-afternoon did a loud, whining siren give them an all clear.

One by one, they helped each other get off of their temporarily paralyzed legs and up the stairs. Each man was stretching and groaning and moaning while dreaming of something delectable to eat. That is, all except for one of them.

The entire time Edward had been stuck in the dark, he had been reliving the horrible day when the one stray bomb landed on their home and took the life of his mother. He had not known immediately that that was what had happened, and neither did his father know but once they returned home and found that their mother was not there, once the wreckage had been cleared away and the bodies accounted for, they knew. But Edward and his father already knew when she wasn't home and did not come home when it became dark out that she was gone; Al may have known too, but he must have just chose to hope that she was okay instead of dwelling on what was most likely true.

But now, Edward sat on his bed, head in his hands, doubled over his knees, head pounding as he tried to not have his emotions displayed across his face for the entire barrack to see. Jean had run off to the latrine along with several other men before he wanted to run to the mess hall. Edward said that he'd wait for him, giving the tortured man time to compose himself.

"Hey Ed."

Ed looked up to see Breighden leaning against the metal bed post, looking down at him with concern. He quickly tried to pull his face into something more calm but he knew it was hopeless to try; Breighden had seen it already.

"Hey," Ed said quietly, voice sounding unusually gravely, before he cleared his throat a little.

"You mind if I sit down for a bit?"

"Nope," Ed muttered, sliding over to make more room for the man, feeling embarrassed while doing so.

Breighden sat down in the spot Ed had previously taken and sat slightly hunched with his large hands folded loosely, resting on his right knee. He looked at Ed with his green eyes for a while before he spoke.

"Now…I don't like it when my men are acting up. And yes Elric, you are one of my men. Maybe not formally but I am in charge of this barrack and I am in charge of you when you're in here. So that means that your well being is also one of my responsibilities."

"Really?" Ed asked, eyebrow quirking upwards.

"Well, it doesn't have to be, but I _choose_ to give a damn about the people in here," he said. "So…"

"So what?" Ed asked heavily, having a strong idea of what he was going to ask.

"So are you alright? You seemed really…out of it before. And I thought you were going to faint when I told you there was a possibility of an air raid."

"So?"

"What happened?" Breighden asked quietly. "I mean… you don't have to tell me exactly why you freaked it's just that…"

"You want to know," Ed finished bluntly.

"Not if it really makes you uncomfortable," he quickly said.

Edward shrugged at this. He did not know why when the matter did make him uncomfortable and it brought up horrible feelings and memories. Maybe he was just acting blasé for Breighden's sake.

"My mom was killed in an air raid at the very beginning of the war," Edward said suddenly, not knowing that he was saying this until after it had come out of his mouth.

Ed quickly shut his mouth after this and hoped that Breighden had not been paying attention or he had not heard this. But he had, and he heard.

"Sorry…" he said lamely.

"It's alright."

But it wasn't.

"It was eight years ago," Edward said, trying his hardest to keep his voice steady and calm. "I was ten. I've had some time to get over it and accept it."

But he hadn't.

"I'm really sorry Ed. It must have been tough while we were stuck down there."

Not knowing what to say, Ed shrugged again but wished he had something more productive to say. Breighden stared at him with a sympathetic gaze for a while before he spoke again, making Edward even more uncomfortable.

"You should get some food. It'll make you feel better."

"I'm waiting for Jean," he mumbled, suddenly feeling an odd wave of loneness wash over him.

"Well, just make sure you get there soon before the rest of it's gone," Breighden said. He then stood up, smiled down at Ed, and clapped him heavily on his shoulder. "Don't forget, we weren't the only ones who were stuck down there for hours; there's a whole boot camp filled with hungry men."

"Uh huh," Ed whispered, wishing for Breighden to just leave already.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the man give a tight nod before he did an about-face and began to walk towards the open door that led out into the outside. Edward then let his tired body collapse backwards onto his bed, the springs groaning slightly under his weight.

"Wakey, wakey sleeping beauty!" Jean yelled as he made his way over to Ed. "It's time to eat!"

"Right," Ed muttered, pushing himself off of the bed. "And don't call me sleeping beauty!"

"Alright _Rapunzel_," Jean snorted, giving Ed's messy pony tail a tug.

* * *

The weekend came and went for Edward. Jean had dragged him out to the same bar with all of the other men and had a couple of drinks. On Monday the entire boot camp woke up at dawn for a hasty breakfast before they were made to do drills until lunch. On Tuesday Edward's barrack went to learn how to assemble and unassembled their guns. It was a day Edward did not like because of how much time he spent being around guns. It only got worse on Wednesday when they were taken out onto the range to learn how to shoot the weapons.

Edward had a mental battle when it was his time to shoot but he ended up doing it anyways; their drill sergeant was a mean-looking man who he knew not to cross. The butt of the gun slammed into his shoulder after he shot the first time. He ended up going way off target but so did several other recruits; the day was just about assessing the groups potential. He went to bed that night and fell into a restless sleep, plagued with dreams of gunshots and exploding bombs.

Thursday they ran drills after drills again. They crawled through mud under barb wire, climbed over wall after wall, ran laps after lap after lap until they could not move anymore. No one talked much when the day was over, all falling asleep as soon as their head hit the pillow. Edward woke up the next morning, still feeling exhausted, but got up all the same when the obnoxious horn went off.

Friday came thankfully to all of the Eastern Command Boot Camp. Unfortunately, that day seemed to be the longest and the worst of all. They went directly to the shooting range again and stayed there until well past their usual lunch time until everyone in the barrack had gotten at least five shots in on the targets. Edward kept hoping that his conflicting emotions would leave the more he shot the gun at the bright red targets, but they only seemed to build up with every shot. He kept shooting though, hoping and praying to a god that he did not believe in that the twist in his gut and the pounding of his heart would leave him soon. Edward did not want to even imagine what it would be like when he had to shoot at actual people.

After a hasty lunch that Edward could not recall of later, they went into a building that held many hanging dummies. There they learned how to use their bayonets to kill their targets with the most efficiency and the least amount of effort. Edward kept telling himself the entire time that it was only a dummy, it was only a sack filled with sand, and it was not alive. But as he got closer to his own turn, his conscious kept picturing a human face on the sack and kept wondering what kind of expression and noise a person would make when stabbed by a long bayonet. He accepted the gun with shaking fingers and did as told. The harsh drill sergeant could feel Ed's uneasiness and made him do it several times until he felt it was an acceptable stab.

Edward felt like he was going to puke by the end of it.

After the torturous lesson, they went back to the drill yard and ran a few rounds of the obstacle course before departing for the showers and then dinner. Edward enjoyed the obstacle course; it was a distraction to his mental anguish and it made him feel like he was doing something right whenever he did something physical. He did not want to feel the smooth texture of the guns in his hands anymore. All he wanted was some mud and some soar muscles from a hard days work. Working hard was something to be proud of; learning to kill someone was not.

When Edward laid down later that evening, he did not sleep. He could not sleep. He lay there for hours, wishing away the images of the human-shaped sack in the training room and of him stabbing it with forced menace. He wanted it gone. All of it. He didn't want this pain and suffering, he did not want to impose it on anyone else, and he defiantly did not want to take a life. Any life. The only solace Edward could take in before he finally fell asleep was that it was because of him that Alphonse was not in the same Hell as he was right now.

* * *

**Bit of turmoil in Ed huh? **

**I think next chapter will end up skipping most of the boot camp and ending somewhere near the end, just so that we can all get closer to the action and angsty part of the story. Can't wait to write it!**

**Hope you liked it. Please leave a review.**

**-FSK**


	11. Coming Home

**Hi everyone!**

**Um... sorry about the ridicoulous wait for this chapter but school's been killing me lately. Seriously, one week I had like, four tests, three quizes and a 100-point paper to work on along with marching band practice. But I'm going to try and get my updates under control now. I have put up a stury-status on my profile that will tell you my guess on the next updates. **

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter and thanks to my beta Dani.**

**Enjoy**

* * *

_"So you're finally going to be coming home brother?" _Alphonse asked on the phone one evening, over two months later.

"Yeah," Edward said into the receiver, trying his best to sound cheerful about it all because Edward defiantly was not happy about leaving Boot Camp.

Yes, he was pleased and relieved it was finally over, but when compared to be forced from one Hell into an even worse Hell, there was not that much to celebrate. But Edward had to be at least a little happy because he would be able to see his brother and friends for a week before shipping out to the battle fields.

"I'm going to be taking a train home tonight so I should be home in a day."

"_Good."_

Edward could clearly picture Alphonse's smile of relief and happiness in his head.

"_I'll make sure we're stocked up on all of your favorites."_

"Al…" Ed said quietly, trying his best to keep his voice even. "I'm… I'm not going to be home for long you know."

"_I know…"_ Al mumbled and Edward knew that he too was trying to keep his emotions from overtaking his voice. _"I-I just want to make you comfortable. And you've got to admit, you do eat a _ton_ brother."_

Edward laughed lightly into the receiver, causing a small crackle.

"You're right there Al. But it's not like you're a light eater either."

"_Heh, I know. I really need to go shopping anyways. I've been so busy with school work lately that I keep forgetting to go out and get some groceries."_

"Al!"

"_I'm _fine _brother."_

"Alright…" Ed muttered before he let out sigh. "But, I'll be home soon so tell Russ and Fletcher. Hell, I guess you could even tell Rose so she won't freak when she doesn't get told."

"_Brother," Al scolded. "She's been getting a lot better ever since you left. Even Russell admits it!"_

"Well I'll just have to see it with my own eyes now won't I? But I got to go now; there's a line for the phone."

"_Oh… alright. But-wait!"_

"What?"

"_Do you want any sort of party-?"_

"No," Edward said flatly. "No celebration. No spontaneous party. Nothing, alright?"

"_Sure,"_ Al said, sounding a little disappointed.

"But, I really got to go now."

"_Okay."_

"And no party," Edward stressed again.

"_I got it! Bye brother; see you soon."_

"Yeah, bye Al."

Ed hung the phone back onto the cradle before he walked away from the phone and pressed his head against the cool wall. He was exhausted and had a pounding headache that had been bothering him since yesterday morning.

He wanted to leave this place and never be forced to shoot a gun or stab a dummy or carry out another mock mission ever again. Edward just wanted to go home, sleep in his own bed, and work at the crummy drug store for the rest of his life.

_I just wish this fucking war never happened_…Edward thought. _Maybe then I could have been happy._

* * *

Both Edward and Jean left East City the next day. Breighden and Estelle came with them to the train station to see them off.

"I hope to see you two men again," Breighden said with a smile as he shook their hands through the train window.

"Come back to East and you can have a drink on me," Estelle said with a kind smile as she leaned closer to her fiancé.

"You bet on it," Jean said with a winning smile.

"See ya Ed, Jean."

"Bye," Ed said with a small smile.

Breighden opened his mouth to say something else but was cut off by the loud roar of the train whistle. He closed his mouth a decided to smile at the two as the train began to lurch forwards. Within minutes, the train was a shrinking sight in the distance.

"…I hope they make it," Estelle whispered into Breighden's shirt. "They're too nice to go off killing men."

"Yeah," he sighed heavily. "But the wars already taken too many good men; it's not going to stop just for them."

"If only it would." she whispered. "If only this dreadful war would just stop. I can't stand to see all of those young men come into my bar, bright eyed and in their prime, just preparing to kill or be killed. I don't know how you stand to do it, year after year, seeing all those faces go; most of them never to come back alive."

In a loss for words, Breighden tightly hugged Estelle before they turned around and began walking out of the train station.

* * *

Edward sat alone in the train car that night. Jean had left the train an hour or so ago and now it was just him. As Ed stared out the window at all the tiny pinpricks of light in the dark sky and wondered what it would take to make it out of this war alive. Or at least, alive in the general sense with his body in working order; he doubted that he'd be able to feel alive for some time after the war with so much blood on his hands.

His eyelids continued to try and tug over his eyes but Edward did not feel up to sleeping. For the last few weeks, he had been tormented by dreams. He knew that once he was home, in his familiar bed with all of its comforting smells, he would be able to sleep, at least, relatively peacefully.

He drifted into a fitful sleep soon after this only to be woken up by another dream.

* * *

"Brother!" Al exclaimed as Edward disembarked from the train.

"Hey Al," Ed said with a sincere smile.

Al ran forth to embrace his brother tightly. Ed returned the hug before he ruffled his sandy bangs. He had missed his brother more than he wished to admit; they had never been apart for such a long time ever before in their lives. Edward then turned to the other people who had also come to greet him. Russell, Fletcher, and Rose had all come and were smiling lightly at him; Rose looked close to a complete break down.

"Glad to have you back, runt," Russell said with a cocky grin. "And here I thought the point of Boot Camp was to strengthen you up a bit. You look just as scrawny as you used to be."

"Looks can be deceiving," Edward said with a grin. "I could beat the shit out of you right now."

"Hmm… but you could still do that before you went so I still don't see how they changed you at all."

Edward grinned at him before he gave him a tight, one-armed hug. After their initial greetings, they all agreed to go back to Ed and Al's house for a lunch and some drinks.

Back at the house, no one wanted Ed to act as host no matter what he said. Al took care of all of the drinks and Rose helped with some snacks while Russell and Fletcher sat with him on one of their couches in the living room.

"Did you know that Rose is dating?" Russell asked casually before he took a sip of his drink.

"No," Ed answered, mildly surprised. "Who's the guy?"

"His name is Cain," Fletcher answered quietly. "He lives a few towns over. He seems nice."

Edward shrugged at this before taking a sip of his own drink. Truthfully, he was glad that she had found someone else and was relieved in the fact that she appeared to be finally over him.

"Good for her."

Lunch felt odd to Edward. It was most likely due to the forced air of happiness from his friends. None of them wanted to even mention Boot Camp or any minor comments of the war status; Edward assumed that meant that the war was not letting up anytime soon. It was rather annoying after a while; especially an hour in when they had run out of interesting things to talk about. If there was anything relatively important that had happened while Ed was away, Al had already called and told him about it.

Al seemed to realize that the little get-together was going no where and ask Edward if he had met anyone interesting in East City. Ed had told Al a little bit about Jean and his barrack leader Breighden but not much. There was an odd bit of tension in the room when Ed had begun to talk about them but Ed continued; it was if they wanted to pretend the last few months had not happened. That was all good for Ed but the only thing to really talk about in the tiny town was the war, and without it small talk was horribly dull.

They left after an unhealthy dinner of take out and beer around dusk. Edward retired upstairs to his bedroom and stared out the window. The sunsets were always beautiful in the summer months in Resembool but for some reason, they just didn't look or feel like they used to anymore. Maybe it was because the bright red look almost like blood and the yellows and oranges reminded Ed horribly of explosions. After shaking his head quickly to rid him of the images, Edward let himself collapse onto his bed. It was as comfortable as it always was. The nights of restless sleep in East City seemed to be piling up on him until he could not take it any longer, and he feel asleep.

* * *

"Don't you have school to go to?" Edward asked groggily the next day when he saw Al sitting at the kitchen table, reading the paper.

"Yes I do. And I already went to it."

"Huh?" Ed yawned as he stretched.

"It's one in the afternoon," Al said with a smile at his brother.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Edward asked crankily.

"I tried," Al answered with another smile. "But you were sleeping like you were in a coma! It was like you haven't slept for days!"

"Ehh…well, the beds at the barracks weren't that comfortable," Ed mumbled as he sat down next to his brother.

"Ed."

"Huh?" he mumbled as he rubbed on of his eyes.

"How was it… I mean, how were you at, um…"

"Boot Camp?" Ed finished, pale eyebrow quirking upwards slightly.

"Yeah… How was it?"

Edward pressed his lips into a thin line as he tried to put his experience at Boot Camp into something positive so that he would not scare his brother. After several minutes of uncomfortable silence, Edward finally spoke.

"It was… different."

"Different?"

"Yeah. I mean, you learned things you didn't know before. It was a learning experience for everyone there."

"Oh."

"Yeah. We would learn different strategies and… and we'd work out a lot to get us all into top shape and we would learn how to best protect ourselves."

Al nodded before he got up and began to reward some leftovers for his brother. Ed was relieved that Al chose not to pry more; he didn't know if he would have been able to spin his shooting lessons and the stabbing of the dummies into something positive.

And he didn't want them to be something positive. Killing another human being was not a god thing. Killing a stranger served little purpose and made even less sense to Edward.

He did not want to do it. He did not know what would happen when he would have to make that first kill. What would they do to him if he refused to kill someone? Would they send him home? Would they kill him? These were things he should have had the guts to ask Breighden before he had left.

* * *

The next few days came and went without anything eventful happening. Edward constantly found himself at the old drug store, talking to Russell and Rose like he would do when they working. Ed was even tempted to go into the back room, grab an old smock, and start working like it was just another day.

Russell and Al would take him out for drinks a few times, sometimes Fletcher would accompany and sometimes Rose would come with them. Ed only assumed that they were doing this because they wanted to keep their minds off the shrinking amount of time he had left there.

None of the townspeople spoke as they used to about the war, now that their boys were being forced into battle. Sure, people from Resembool had enlisted and went to war and most of them had been sent back in small wooden boxes or sent back in a mere shell of the man they used to be, but they had all went on free will.

On one of Edward's last days of visitation, he had forced the three runaway's and Rose to go over their escape plan several times. He made them show him brochures of the hotel they were going to be staying at and made them give him full details on the escape once Rose had left. She still did not know that their real plan was to run to Xing. The plan still felt so random and full-hardy that it made Ed feel like he was going to puke. It was still their only plan and it was much too late to try and come up with another.

* * *

"You sure you don't want any sort of party?" Russell asked on Edward's last full day of leave.

The two boys were hanging around the empty drug store while Rose leaned against the counter, quietly listening to their conversation.

"_Yes_," Edward said annoyed. "I don't want a party. It'd be weird to celebrate me being sent to my death."

"Don't say that," Russell said severely.

Ed looked at his friend for a moment before he let out a deep breath. He knew he should not have said that to him but he couldn't stop the words form coming out of his mouth.

"I'm sorry… I know I shouldn't have said it," Edward muttered as he leaned against one of the coolers.

"Can we still come over for drinks tonight?" Russell asked.

"Of course," Ed said with small smile.

"Hey Rose," Russell called over his shoulder, knowing the women was listening in on their conversation.

"Yeah?" she answered after a moment.

"Are you coming over tonight?"

"Uh-huh."

* * *

It was not a festive or happy evening that night. Drinks were passed around and the only laughs and smiles were half-hearted and forced. Edward wanted to just yell and tell them to stop all of their bullshit. He wanted to tell them that this could be there last night together alive and he didn't want it to be fake. But he didn't tell them his thoughts. He didn't want to ruin the small and weak idea that they were all happy. He didn't want to make them sad because he didn't want to spend the last night with them being sad either.

It was a horrible catch.

They were all reluctant to leave later in the night; even when it passed three in the morning. He said that he needed his rest; everyone knew that that was a lie but everyone was too tactful to point it out.

Rose gave him a tight hug and kissed him on the cheek as she tried to suppress her sobs. Russell gave him a grin before putting him in a quick head lock. Fletcher smiled at him uncertainly before he said a quiet goodnight. Al insisted that he'd clean up the mess that their friends had created and made Ed go lay down. Ed did as told, knowing that his brother probably was close to a complete break down and did not want to be seen or heard when it happened.

So Ed went up to his bed, laid on his back, and stared at the ceiling, only ever moving to turn on the small radio that rested on the bedside table so that he could drowned out the noises of his younger brother's muffles sobs. When he felt he could not take it anymore, Edward snuck down the stairs quietly until he found him, sitting at the table where he had broken the news to him.

Alphonse sat quietly with his head in his hands, elbows resting on the table, and sobs shaking his thin shoulders. Edward felt his heart breaking at the sight but he continued forwards until he was only a foot behind the young man, who appeared to be unaware of his brother's presence.

"Hey," he whispered, placing a gentle hand on top of his head.

Al jumped at his voice and touch. Ed grabbed his wrists when he quickly tried to wipe away his tears. Edward got onto a bended knee and moved so that he was at Al's side.

"You should go lay down Al…" Edward whispered in the dark, still clutching his brother's hands. "You won't feel well if you don't get a good night sleep."

Al opened his mouth to say something but decided against it and merely nodded as he pressed his lips tightly together in hopes of stopping the sobs that were shaking his shoulders.

"…It'll be okay Al," Ed whispered after several painful minutes of silence passed between the two.

Al did not say anything as a sob finally broke free and he began to cry again.

"Don't… don't cry Al," Ed said as he let go of one of his brother's hands so that he could wipe away some of his tears.

"I'm sorry," Al whispered.

"Don't apologize. I just don't want to see you crying like that."

"I…"

"Alphonse."

"H-huh?"

"Don't try and change the plan."

"Huh?"

"Don't try and do something stupid to try and save me. No matter what you hear. Alright?"

"Ed-."

"Just promise me," Edward pleaded. "I don't want you to get hurt or caught or killed because you wanted to go back for me. It's my job to protect my little brother and I won't do a good job if you go and get yourself killed."

"I know," Al sniffed. "I know. It's just… It's just hard."

"I know Alphonse. But you have to be strong."

* * *

Al nodded again before he was taken over by a new wave of unstoppable sobs and tears. Edward got up and embraced him tightly as he rubbed his back soothingly and whispered words of encouragement to him.

* * *

**Poor Eddy. :( Poor Al. I had a hard time deciding how to depict Al in this chapter.**

**Again, I'll try and update this sooner next time. :)**

**Please send a review my way. **

**-FSK**


	12. The Camp

**Uh so... um, sorry about the wait. But It's November and that means NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, go look it up) and I have to work on my novel.**

**But I managed to squeeze out this chapter this morning and get my daily word goal for NaNo so I'm happy. I'm sorry that this took a while but there was a problem with the Doc Exchange and my awesome Beta Dani is doing NaNo as well and is busy too.**

**I'd like to say thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter and to my Beta Dani for her help on this chapter.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

No one looked particularly happy as Edward looked around the packed train car later that day. But than again, why would they? Even if they weren't all being sent too their deaths, if they got out alive, there hands would be dirtied and they'd have a weight on their conscience. Edward could see a few of the men –and a few women- who appeared to be trying to look calm, cool, and collected but he could also see those who were clearly forced here by the draft: the meek little men who looked terrified by a picture of a gun; they would die first of all of the men.

It was horrible to send such men into a warzone; it was practically murder seeing as they would only ever get out of the war alive by sheer dumb luck. The man sitting in the row across the isle from him was a scrawny young man who looked particularly sickly and feeble; he looked like he could be snapped in half by a number of the burlier men sitting through out the train car.

_They shouldn't be allowed to send such men to war… it's murder. What good will they do?_

Before he knew how to stop it, Edward began looking at each person around him and began to pick out if they should be there or not and why not.

A middle-aged woman dressed in an army nurse uniform sat quietly as she read a book. Odds are she had a family back home or someone who would miss her.

_Unless she has no one. Maybe her children are fighting on the battlefields and she's doing this to get closer to them…_

A large man sat near him and he looked formidable enough but he kept glancing at a thin chain that hung around his thick neck. At first Ed though it was just a chain or dog tags but once he saw the thick circle under his shirt, he realized that it was most likely a locket of some sort.

_He probably has a family or at least someone who loves him…_

Sitting across from Edward was a small, brunette man who could not have been more that sixteen. The military allowed people of sixteen years to join and fight but… Edward never expected anyone to do it willingly, especially one who looked so young. He sat with his jaw set firmly in an impassive look and he had his arms folded across his chest while he stared at the ground.

Edward shook his head as he tried to rid his mind of all of his thoughts. He did want to think of anything at the moment; he just wanted his mind to be free from worry, thought, and reason. This, waiting as he was being brought closer and closer to the battlefield, was torture.

* * *

The summer heat beat down on Edward's body as he stepped out of the train car the next day. The trains had stopped dropping people off at the usual train station and made a hasty station near the camps for easy access for the new recruits. Ed hitched his one bag higher on his back and began walking forward with the other people who had left the train.

The camp was about a twenty minute walk from the make-shift train station. The first sight of camp Ed got was a wall of pale green, pointed tents of all different sizes. Some were bigger than a dinning hall while other probably held a few people.

"New recruits over here! New recruits over here!" yelled a woman dressed in army garb. "Come on! Hustle over! We don't have all day!"

Edward along with the other recruits began to move towards the lady who stood on a crate so that she could be seen from farther and see farther herself. She looked tough with tan skin and dark hair pulled back into a low pony tail; after a moment of waiting, she picked up a chart that was held under one arm and began reading from it.

"Pay attention to the squad number I give you because I'm not going to repeat myself, you got that?

"Baker, Anderson, Salay, Jones, Smith, Carter, Wilson, Marshal, Crows, and Lunter! You'll be in squad 215! Martin, Williams, Aarons, Summers, Taylor, Porter, Register, Sullivan, Meehan, Lowe, and Elric! You'll be in 216! Roberts…!"

Edward turned and departed with the people that had been called for his squad number. They walked through the encampment until they had happened upon a large tent with a big 216 painted on the sides. After looking at each other for a moment, one of the men shrugged and walked into the tent, the other followed in his footsteps.

"Here they come," Edward heard a voice say from inside.

"Just perfect…" sighed another voice.

Edward lifted up a canvas flap and walked inside. It was muggy inside the tent but the shade was a nice change after standing in the hot sun for some time. There were about twenty cots lined up on either side of the tent and in the front and center of the room was a table that sat two men dressed in military uniforms.

Both appeared to be a few years older than Ed, had dark hair, and were about average height and weight but that was where the similarities stopped. One had his hair pushed back, wore rimless glasses, had bright green eyes, and a calming effect about him. The other appeared to be of Xing decent with his black, almond shaped eyes. He wore a flat expression and seemed to radiate stress off of him and onto Edward. The green eyed man stood up from his seat at the table and gave the recruits a small smile.

"I am Captain Maes Hughes and we will be your squadron leaders for some time here," once finished, Hughes turned to look at the other and gave him a look that clearly told him to get up and introduce himself.

"I am Major Roy Mustang and as Hughes said, we will be your squadron leaders. That means that you will listen to every single order that we give you and you will do it without hesitation. Our job is to make sure new recruits like you don't get blown up in five minutes so don't think that you're going to know better than us alright?"

Without another word, Mustang fell back onto his chair and set his feet lazily on the table before letting his head roll back and sigh. Hughes stared at his companion for a moment as he rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath before he turned back to the new recruits.

"So, uh, choose a cot and I'll show you around a bit after I have a quick talk with the Major here."

He then turned and looked down with an annoyed expression at his before he grabbed Mustangs arm and pulled him to his feet and out of the tent.

Edward walked away from the opening so that he would not be eavesdropping and walked to the opposite end of the tent and settled on the bed farthest away from the front. As he was setting his things on the ground, Edward noticed someone move by him. It was the young boy from the train. He watched for a moment as he picked the bed across from Edward and curled up into a small ball on it. Pity bubbled in his stomach at the sight and instantly thought of Al; why would such a fragile and young person come here?

After another minute, Caption Hughes and Major Mustang walked back into the tent. Hughes continued to mutter something to Mustang but he seemed to be trying to ignore the words that the other was saying.

_That guy looks like he's already given up,_ Ed thought as he took in Mustang's appearance. _This place probably took his will… I wonder how long he's been here._

"Alright men!" Hughes called, seeming to give up on the other man completely. "Follow me and I'll be showing you a bit around camp."

Edward got up and walked forwards; the young man following closely behind him. Mustang remained seated in his chair as the men filed out, ignoring all of them. But as Ed passed by, he looked up at him and for a moment their eyes locked. Ed could see something brewing beneath the dark eyes but didn't know what to make of it and moved on forwards, trying to shake the odd feeling he got from the man away.

* * *

Hughes showed them all the mess hall that was inside of a humungous tent that probably held more than a hundred people. As they passed by the mess hall tent, they walked passed a series of tents with red crosses on them. Hughes informed them that that was the medical tent and that they shouldn't stare at anyone as they passed. They were showed the latrines and showers next; they were set up in a long row of stalls near the end of the camp. Next they were shown were the supplies was held but were told that they would only be allowed access into it if they were accompanied by an officer.

Lastly, they were brought to the very edge of the camp; Ed shivered involuntarily when he could hear several gun shots ring out. It was a barren area with nothing more than dirt and sand. Hughes then pointed way off into the distance to two grey structures. They looked nothing more than poles from their distance but Hughes informed him that they were sniper towers.

"If you pass those, you'll be considered fair game on the battle field," Hughes said gravely.

Edward's stomach began to twist horribly at the thought that he was so close to so much death and destruction and he was glad that he had not ate much of anything in the pass few days.

Captain Hughes hurried them away from the end of camp after only a few more minutes and they were back in their tent in not time at all. Ed collapsed onto his cot and closed his eyes.

* * *

Later that night, as Ed walked slowly to the mess hall, someone called out to him.

"Ed! Hey Ed!"

He turned around and saw Jean running towards him looking happy to see someone that he knew.

"Hi Jean," Ed said, forcing a smile to his face.

"Going to get some food?"

"Yeah."

"What squad are you?"

"216. You?"

"204. My tents mostly filled with people involved in the sniper program."

"Well you were probably put into that squad because you were such a good shot in Boot Camp," Ed said with a small, sincere smile.

"Yeah but I don't know if I'd want to be sniper," Jean said with a small shiver. "They're insane. I don't know if it'd be worse being out in the open or killing scores of people while their backs were turned."

Ed shook slightly at Jean's words but forced himself to remain calm. He then changed the subject to what was for dinner and together they walked to the mess hall.

* * *

After about an hour of eating and forcing a calm voice into their small talk and avoiding everything and anything that had to do with the war that was raging on less than a mile away from them, Edward and Jean got up and left the hall. They decided to go for a walk around camp when Jean told Ed that no one had showed him much of anything and Ed said that he had been shoed a bit. But as they passed by the medical tents, Ed's attention was completely captivated by someone in the tents.

"Who's that?" Ed asked Jean in a slightly breathless voice, pointing towards the medical tent.

Inside he could see a young blond woman, probably around his age, working with some patients. She was…beautiful. The woman had long blond hair pulled back into a pony tail and light blue eyes. She wore a slightly forced smile as she spoke to someone, Ed could not see who.

"That chick?" Jean asked, pointing towards her before he shrugged and gave a grunt. "I don't know man but are you gonna try and tap that?"

Ed's face blushed slightly at these words.

"How can I 'tap that' if I have no clue who she is?"

Jean stared at his red face for a moment, grinning from ear to ear like the devil he was before he walked closer to Ed and wrapped his arm around Ed's shoulders.

"Oh, Eddy-."

"Don't you dare call me that." Ed growled.

"Oh Ed, so young-."

"I'm two years younger than you."

"So naïve."

Ed couldn't exactly dispute this. He had only really ever been with one woman before and Jean had told tales of at least five during Boot Camp. Jean was ahead of him when it came to the ladies but he couldn't stand to be treated like a little kid by someone who was only slightly older than him!

After spending another moment staring at the blond woman, she walked out of view and Jean muttered something along the lines of stalker, making Ed pick up his feet and pretend like he had already forgotten about the girl.

They reached Jean's tent first and after saying goodnight, Ed walked slowly to his own and went to his cot. There was word that he'd be sent out tomorrow morning but he willed himself to forget everything except the blond woman in the medical tent and fell into a restless sleep.

* * *

**So Winry makes a little appearence at the end and it's apparent that Ed is already head over heels for her. Roy's clearly depressed already and Maes is doing what he always does, picks up the peices and does it with a smile. :) I was so happy to finally get these characters into the story line.**

**Next chapter (...when ever I get around to it...) there will definatly be some action and drama as Ed's sent to battle! And maybe we'll peak back to Resembool and see how Al and the others are doing.**

**Please review! And I hope you all stay patient with my extremly late updates. :|**

**-FSK**


	13. Into the Battlefield

**Hello readers! :D**

**First off, I would like to thank the several people who reviewed last chapter; I appreciated all of them. :)**

**Second of all, since NaNoWriMo is now over (I FINISHED IT! XD) my updates should go back to normal. I say should because my high school's Stage Crew for their musical is starting up and it does limit my time.**

**Lastly, I'd like to announce that today marks the one year anniversary of my first story on here being published! Yay! :D**

**So, I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

"Wake up! Wake up! Everybody up!"

Edward's eyes snapped open and he quickly stared around the dark tent, panicking. All around him, figures were snapping up and rushing about like chickens whose head had just been chopped of by a large butcher knife.

"What's going on?" Ed heard someone nearby ask groggily.

"We've been given orders that our squad is to go out today and we need to get ready ASAP," said a voice that sounded familiar to Edward, but it took a moment for his groggy mind to put it to the correct face.

"Everyone get dressed and then met us all at the supplies tent!" called Captain Hughes from the head of the tent.

Ed got out of bed and quickly scrabbled with his clothes as his heart and mind raced at top speed. He was being set to fight today. This could be his last day alive. This could be the day of his first kill.

Millions and millions of horrible thoughts continued to whirl around in his head and it made it impossible to focus on more than one task at a time. Due to his lagging mind, Ed was one of the last people out of the tent and he quickly picked up his pace so that he would catch up to the others.

Edward turned his head so that he was staring at where the sun would be rising soon enough. Even though it was summer, the morning air was rather cold and it woke up his mind more efficiently then caffeine ever could. It was dark out on the camp and all Ed could see, for miles if felt, was the different shaped tents rising out up and into the air.

Feeling the intense nerves build up inside of him, Edward took a deep breath that would not calm him and he knew it wouldn't. He had to just admit it to himself and say that he was scared shitless of what awaited him. Edward wished he could just disappeared and run back to the tents and then run as fast and far as he could.

But he wouldn't. He had decided to come here when he first got that letter and if he wanted to run he should have done it then.

They arrived at the supplies tent after another moment of walking. Major Mustang and Captain Hughes stood in front, ready to bark out orders to all. They waited another minute or two for the stragglers before Mustang spoke.

"Listen up," Mustang spoke in a clear and commanding voice, "you will be following me and Captain Hughes today. We've been ordered to go and secure a certain strategic position and once we get there, we are to inform base camp so that they can send more soldiers in. I suggest that you all follow us if you want a better chance of making it out of there alive."

Captain Hughes then took a step forwards.

"Get into a single file line so that you may be given you rifle. You will be assigned this rifle once you are handed it. I you lose it, for whatever reason, you must register for another."

The process of handing out the weapons took a lot less time than Edward had expected (and hoped) for it to take. Once they were given the proper ammo, the lined back up and waited for instruction.

Mustang paced back and forth in front of their line for a while as Hughes stood off to the side, looking slightly worried but Edward was amazed that he was able to keep his cool around someone who gave off such horribly tense and grim vibes. But after another pass, he stopped in the middle of the line, only a man off from where Edward stood.

"Follow me," he said. "Stay one line and follow every order I give you."

As they marched to their possible deaths, the rational part of Edward's mind screamed to stop marching forward and run, run away from the horrible scene and go back home, to where it was safe. But his body did not try to stop and continued to move forwards with the rest of them.

_It's like we're cattle being led to slaughter_… Edward thought miserably.

The gunshots only got louder and louder with every step and Edward's heart only increased with every step. He tried to look around and see if the others were as nervous as he felt but their single-file formation made it impossible to see another's eyes.

The dilapidated buildings came into closer view and within a few moments, they would pass by the first of their sniper towers and they would be on the battlefield. But moments before they were to pass, Mustang ducked behind a large outcropping of shattered rock and urged the other's to follow.

"Now, listen very closely. Out point is about two miles into enemy territory. We'll have to move fast but I'm relatively sure you all want to be moving fast so that you don't become a sitting duck alright?" Mustang spoke just above a whisper and he spoke rather quickly. "I want you all to stay low and if you can, stay behind outcroppings like these. It's the safest thing you should do and if we're forced to stop, whether it be from a blockade or from something else, the most important thing you do is to listen to me. Got it?"

They then began to run forwards, slightly bent over, before Mustang stopped at the side of a building and checked around the corner before rushing forwards. Edward quickly moved towards the front of the pack while some others fell back. He turned his head and saw the young boy who had his cot across from him running as fast as Edward, but he seemed like he was about to start gasping for air any moment now. As his heavy breathing increased, his speed began to slow and soon he fell back by a few people. Edward had the uncontrollable urge to go back and run by him but stopped himself before he began to slow his pace. He should just do best as told and run. Then all of a sudden, a loud shot rang out and Ed knew it was startlingly close to them.

"Stop!" Mustang hissed before he quickly dropped down onto one knee and crouched behind a large piece of concrete that seemed to be part of a fallen wall.

The others who were farther behind than Edward was began to scramble to get to the wall and almost fell when they tried to stop as gracefully as Mustang did. The wall was about three feet tall and thirty feet long with jagged edges. Mustang had one of his ears practically pressed against the wall before he brought his head up a fraction of an inch to get a better look.

Another shot rang out but this time it was much more accurate as it whizzed just over Edward's head. He watched it pass by for a moment before he was drawn back to attention by the sounds of Mustang's shouts and several gunshots. Edward turned and saw that Mustang had his rifle positioned and was firing at a spot a few feet away. He then turned and saw that the others were now fumbling with their guns and getting them ready. Edward made a quick search to find the younger boy but when he couldn't see him after a moment, he gave up and prepared his rifle.

"FIRE!" Mustang roared as he shot another and then slid behind the wall again to reload.

Others followed Mustang's technique and soon, more and more shots rung out and it made Edward's heart pound horribly fast. It had taken him three tries for him to force himself to actually pull the trigger, when he couldn't shoot, he would just duck back down for a moment before he went back and tried again, and it took him five times to actually aim at the target.

But as several minutes passed, the men became more and more frantic and Mustang noticed it quickly.

"Fall back!" Mustang shouted as he moved away from the way and ran so crouched over that Ed thought he was bound to fall over at any moment.

Edward was one of the first to register the order and followed after him while others were still firing, unable to hear the order. They ran doubled over until they reached a tall building that was still standing and they hid behind one of the walls and waited for the others.

As they waited for the other soldiers to arrive, Edward looked around the panting soldiers and saw that Hughes was not among them and neither was the boy. Edward was tempted to peak his head around the corner to see if they were coming, but was saved from the temptation when the rest of the squad came running back and skidded in a near pile-up.

"Major, we got a man wounded," Hughes said as he wiped his glasses on a corner of his top.

"How badly?" he asked, looking through the men to try and pick out who it was.

"Those bastards shot me in the arm," grunted a man who was gripping his upper left arm tightly. "As we were retreating they got me."

"How deep is it Hughes?"

"I don't think he should sticking around," Hughes said gravely. "He needs medical attention."

"It hurts like a bitch…" the man grunted as he clenched his teeth in pain.

"Well we can't afford to go all the way back to camp now Hughes."

"I wasn't suggesting that we all go back. Listen, we're not that far away from camp. I'll take him back, you stay and lead them."

Mustang took a moment to consider the offer but took no longer than a few second before he let out an annoyed noise and sighed.

"Fine, go. Take him back. But I don't think it would be the best idea if you tried to come back on your own Hughes; just stay at camp. Stay hidden in case a higher up sees you when they know you should be out here."

"I got it, I got it. Don't worry about it," Hughes said with a small smile before he turned to the man and helped him up. "I know that if we go right and then cut down the nearest street, we'll be able to get back home easily."

"Just get back there alive," Mustang said sternly as he almost glared into Hughes' mellow green eyes.

"I will."

With that the two departed as quickly as they could and soon disappeared around the corner.

"Damn it," Mustang cursed a few moment later, looking to the right where Hughes and the other soldier departed from. "We'll have to go the longer way. Come on."

They did not need to run doubled over here for they were protected by the large buildings that seemed to withstand all of the guns and bombs that destroyed so many others. Like before, Mustang would stop every now and again before checking to see if the coast was clear and moving on.

Edward heard so many guns firing and bombs going off and yells and screams surrounding him. He wished that he could just shut off his hearing and block out the noises, because he was sure this would all be a lot less horrible if he did not have to hear such things.

The group stopped and took a small break, which Edward was thankful for, seeing as they had been running for some time now. As they sat down on the hot and sandy earth, Ed couldn't help but look over at the small boy and inspect his well being. There was a small cut on his cheek that seemed to have stopped bleeding but blood coated his face from the cheek down on that side and he was panting horribly and fumbling with his canteen. His hands were shaking so badly they he could not open it and Edward was over come with the wish to help him but did not.

_He's not Al… He isn't your brother so quit freaking out over him like he is_, Ed thought. _He most likely signed up for this, don't feel bad for him. _

Mustang then got up and the other followed him. They walked on for a while before a loud explosion sounded and Ed was flung backwards several feet.

His back slammed against the hard ground and his head wasn't far behind it. The wind was completely knocked out of his and he couldn't move if he tried. Edward could here Mustang shouting commands while some groaned, some screamed in pain or in outrage but some said nothing and it scared Edward. Just as he was about to force himself up, he was forced down by something large.

"Stay down kid!"

It was Mustang. He quickly rolled off of him and began to drag Edward behind another wall as shots fired out. Once Edward was able to gather his thoughts in the proper order, he looked around and saw that only a handful of men sat around in the shadows of the two buildings that they were wedge in-between. Three of them were clutching some bloodied body part and two others were inspecting themselves for injury. It then occurred to Edward to see if he was hurt; just because he didn't feel any real pain didn't mean that he wasn't hurt, he could have gone into shock. But after several times spent checking his body and appendages, he saw that nothing major was wrong with him and he was instantly relieve.

But the small amount of relief he had gained soon was lost when he realized that the boy was not among them. Turning to Mustang, how was trying to help a wounded man, Ed asked the question that was lying heavily on his heart and conscious.

"W-where are the others?"

"I don't know," Mustang answered before ripping a piece of cloth from his tattered over coat with his teeth to use as a bandage. "The blast could have flung you guys anywhere. Or it could have vaporized you, depending where they went."

"So they…?"

"I'm not saying that they're all dead, but I am saying that it's just best if we don't try and look for them," Mustang said as he looked at Edward with a stare that showed that this was an order.

Edward glanced down the alley way and at the spot where the bomb had gone off. He couldn't see much but he was able to see one thing: blood and lots of it.

His heart beat frantically as he realized that he could have died then and there and his stomach twisted as he thought of how the boy's remains could be right at the end of the alley, ready to be eaten by buzzards.

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**So I had some trouble with the whole, war thing and what to do and I kinda just made things up based on movies I've seen and books that I've read so... I hope it seemed realistic. :|**

**Next chapter I want to go back home to Resembool and write about Al, Russell, and Fletcher's great escape. which should be rather fun. :)**

**Please take twenty seconds to send a review my way! :D**

**-FSK**


	14. The Runaways

**Hello everyone! :D**

**Thanks for all of the reviews I got for chapter thirteen! Here's fourteen and right now, we're gonna shift the story from Ed at the battlefield to Al and the others as they prepare to run away.**

**Have to thank my editor Dani. :) She's always a bunch of help.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

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"Are you ready to go?"

Alphonse looked up to see Russell standing in the doorway of his bedroom. He hand been too engrossed with the packing of his suitcase that he had not heard Russell's knocking on the front door of his house and the footsteps and callings of his friend once he had let himself inside. Alphonse looked at Russell for a moment before forcing a happy smile on his face and nodded eagerly.

"Yeah. All packed and ready," he said with a nod. "I was just double-checking everything."

"Well, Fletcher and Rose are waiting for us at the train station," Russell said, pointing a thumb over his shoulder. "The train leaves in an hour. We better get going if we want to make it."

"Right," Al said as he closed the lid of his suitcase and closed the locks. "Let's get going."

Russell followed Al down the stairs, helping him with some of his bags, towards the living room and together, they locked the door behind them. Al stood in front of the door for a second, taking in his home and wondering when he would see it again.

"Come on," Russell said, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "We have to get going."

Alphonse did not talk much on their trek to the train station. Edward had been gone not even two days and he was already worried sick about him. Al did not like this plan very much, mostly because he felt like a coward running away, but he would do it because it was what his brother asked of him. And even though he had fought over this with Edward, he always knew that he would end up going through with the plan.

Over the past twenty-four hours, he had been trying to put on a brave face and not let a soul see his face crumple in worry but he knew it was all in vain; the whole town knew he was in pain over his brother's decision, why bother?

They arrived at the near-empty train station only a few minutes later. The only people there were the station helpers, Fletcher, and Rose.

"Rose," Al said once the two came into better view. "Why do you have your things with you? You're meeting us later."

There was a pile of colorful baggage surrounding Rose as she stood next to Fletcher, wearing a leisurely sun dress and a large, floppy hat.

"But I decided it would be best if I come now," She said evenly as she played with her large sun hat.

"But-"

"Listen, I'm going to be checking you guys_ out_ of the hotel. But wouldn't it be smart if I came with you? That way they wouldn't get suspicious about some girl that they haven't seen before checking you out? It makes perfect sense."

"Whatever," Russell said as he rolled his eyes. "You just want more time to relax."

"And I'm also helping keep people off of your trail," she said before she walked towards the train and stepped inside.

The three boys exchanged slightly tire glances before they all shrugged and followed her onto the train, leaving their things with Rose's for a station hand to put away. The train car was empty as they sat down in their seats and it was still empty when the train began to lurch forwards ten minutes later.

The Hotel that they had chosen would take a few hours to get to, seeing as it was close to the eastern border. Even though the car was completely empty, they decided not to talk about their plan during the ride there, for fear someone might walk in and overhear. So they sat in near silence the entire ay, only ever talking to speak of safe subjects for a few moments.

Finally, after about two hours of waiting, the train stopped at a small station that was almost as empty as Resembool's station. The air was warm and pleasant and it was clear that the town was a resort town, seeing as none of the people who walked about the streets seemed to be dressed for any business and by just glancing at the nearest street, one could count at least four different restaurants and two hotels.

"Come on," Russell said once their luggage was found. "I called ahead for a taxi."

The four piled into the taxi and took a slightly uncomfortable five minutes wait through the busier streets until they reached the edge of the town and stopped in front of a pleasant building that was surrounded in beautiful fields and nature. Russell paid the taxi driver and together, they hauled their luggage up to the nice hotel and inside.

"Let me check in," Rose said as they walked towards the counter. "It'll be easier for me to check out if they see me more often."

Before anyone could interrupt her, Rose strolled up to the counter to where a young woman stood and smiled at her.

"Hello," said the lady.

"Hello," Rose said with a perfect smile. "I'm here to check in; I have two suites."

"Two_ suites_?" Al hissed under his breath to Russell. "No one told me about having two rooms."

"What's it matter to you?" Russell whispered back with a shrug. "You got tons of money in the bank. And it's not like you're going to be using it all."

Alphonse simply rolled his eyes and slumped against the wall. He really did not have a problem with the amount of money being spent- Russell was right, they did have quite a lot of money, thanks to their father's unknown job- but he was annoyed that no one had bothered to tell him about it.

Rose had finished checking in after another moment and together, the four of them located the elevator, got inside, and found their rooms that were located on the third floor.

They were large, pristine, and luxuriously furnished with new furniture and other appliances. There were three rooms in one and two in the one that Rose would be staying in.

"I still don't se why you had to get a suite too," Russell grunted as he carried his bags into one of the rooms.

"Well, there were only suites on this floor and I didn't want to be on a whole other floor from you guys," Rose said, putting in her best attempt to sound as if she would be truly torn up about being on another floor.

"For some reason, I think you're lying," Russell muttered to Fletcher, who giggled nervously, before pointing an accusatory finger at Rose. "I'm calling bullshit."

"Oh, be quiet will you?" Rose whined before she turned elegantly and skipped lightly out of the room before peaking her head back inside. "Can one of you please help me with my bags?"

* * *

The hotel was beautiful and wonderful in every way, but Alphonse just could not enjoy anything about it, knowing that his brother was somewhere, risking his life and living in less than ideal conditions. Rose on the other hand, seemed to be in complete heaven with the arrangements and was already creating quite a bit of debt.

The days passed by idly for Rose, the most strenuous thing for her was locating the pool on the first day, while they passed by in a slightly panicked jumble for Alphonse. Several times a day, Al would go and check to see that he had all he would need once they left. Russell often made comments about him losing his sanity as he walked by muttering to himself as he listed all of the needed provisions.

"Well don't get mad at me when you end up not having something," Al would often snap at Russell, who rolled his eyes at him while Fletcher sighed wearily at the two of them.

"Al is right though Russ," Fletcher said quietly as they sat around their room on the fourth day of their visit. "You should really make sure you have everything. I mean, we can't take all of those bags that we brought with us so you need to get the priorities."

"Whatever," Russell said with a groan, but got up and walked to his room anyways.

Al glanced at the large and ornate grandfather clock that sat in the corner of the front room before getting up from his seat and walking to the door of the suit.

"Where are you going?" Fletcher asked.

"I'm running to the bank," Al said as he checked for his room key. "We need to withdraw more money."

"Why?" Russell cried as he poked his head from out of his room. "You've already withdrawn like, a couple hundred dollars! Why do you need to keep doing this every day? I mean, won't it seem suspicious if you suddenly start withdrawing like crazy?"

"Wouldn't it be more suspicious if I went and withdrew a thousand bucks or something outrageous all at once?" Al asked, as he gripped the door knob. "Besides, this is what brother told me to do and I think it's a good idea."

And with that, Alphonse opened the door and departed from the room.

* * *

The three men often spent the nights planning out the best routes on several different maps that they had brought with them. They made several different routes in case of emergencies and created a series of points where they would meet up if they ever got split up. All three of them had been taught how to use a compass and a map as a child so there was no worry over someone misinterpreting the maps.

Alphonse knew that getting through the treacherous Great Desert would take most of their time and energy but knew that they'd just have to stock up on the essentials before they went through it. He also found a sort of pit stop where they would be able to refill on water. He also wondered if there would be away to find cheap transportation like camels or horses somewhere along the line, seeing as it wouldn't be the best for them to take trains.

Finally, the last day of their intended stay at the hotel came to them. Rose spent the entire day in their room, much to their annoyance as they wanted to talk about their plan but could not as they were leaking Rose false information. Everyone inspected each other's bags and recommended things they might need so that they would be able to purchase them before they went on the run.

They all carried a fully packed rucksack that was filled with necessities like clothes for different climates, medicine, some hygiene products, part of the large amount of money Alphonse had withdrawn from the bank, a compas, and several maps along with written instructions for what to do if they were forced to separate; Al also carried a small radio to listen to the news.

The night of their planned departure, the three men plus Rose walked to the third floor fire escape that was at the end of the hall and waited until the coast was clear.

"Okay, you two go first," Al said to Russell and Fletcher in a slightly hushed tone.

They nodded before descending down the rickety metal stairs while Rose waved a sad goodbye to them. Al waited until they had safely reached the ground before he turned to look at Rose, who looked close to tears.

"I guess this is goodbye for now," Al said, feeling slightly awkward with their goodbyes.

"For now," Rose nodded in agreement before she embraced Al tightly for a moment, before letting go.

Al gave a final small smile to Rose before he followed after Russell and Fletcher and went down the fire escape.

It was a rather dark night, mostly due to the fact that there was no moon and plenty of clouds, something that Edward had planned months before for them. Alphonse turned to look at the long green pastures that sat behind the hotel before he turned to look at the other two, who appeared to be slightly nervous.

"You guys ready?"

"Of course," Russell said with Fletcher nodding in agreement.

Al looked back up the ladder that he had just descended from before turning back to face the empty land in front of him. He shifted the straps of his rucksack on his shoulders and tried to will away the paranoia that was forming in his mind that he had forgotten something deadly important even though he knew he must have check it over twenty times in the past few days. Giving his head a final shake to rid himself of his thoughts, he took his first steps forwards.

"Come on."

And with that, the three were running off into the distance as they began their lives as fugitives.

* * *

**I have to say, I really, really loved writing this chapter and especially the end when they run away. It was really fun.**

**So, I think that next chapter we're gonna shift back to Ed. I'm not sure when I'll shift back to Al, I may make it into an every-other chapter thing but we'll all just have to wait to see what I do... including me, because I have no definite idea. XD**

**But, thanks for reading and I hope you send me a review! :D**

**-FSK**


	15. Following Orders

**Hello readers!**

**I am officially on Christmas Vacation! XD I got up at noon today! But anyways, thanks for the reviews I got last chapter and I'd like to thank my editor Dani for her help once again.**

**So this chapter we're really getting into some of the battles. I think it's easy to say, once you've read the chapter, that I was inspired by a certain war, cookie to anyone who can guess it correctly. :)**

**Enjoy.**

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"Come on," Mustang said after a few more minutes of sitting in the small alley way. "We can't just sit around here all day. We have to continue with the mission."

"Are you serious?" asked a man who was trying to stop the blood that was flowing out of a large cut above his eye. "Half of us just got blown up and the other half is just oozin' blood and shit. Why the Hell do you want us to risk our lives with goin' further?"

"It's our job cadet," Mustang said evenly, glaring down at the man. "We have to do as ordered. Now follow me."

Mustang stood up and began his slightly stumbling walk down the alley and away from the hunkered down cadets. After a few more moments, the group all sighed and groaned as they forced their beaten bodies up and followed after the young Major.

Edward's mind was astonishingly blank and there was a slight ringing in one of his ears that he had to blame on the explosion. His legs shook with ever step he took and he could not tell if it was because of the pain that was radiating in both of his knee-caps or if it was due to shock. He looked around at the other men around him; none of them really looked outwardly shaken but they sure did not look like they wished to follow Major Mustang any further. Ed wondered what he looked like right now with blood and dust covering most of his uniform and hair. He noticed that his hands were still shaking ever so slightly and they would not stop no matter how hard he tried.

The small group continued on only through small alley ways and through rubble piles, saying that if there were land mines, they would have already detonated already. It was hard work, walking through the city, especially once the sun began to rise and hang over their heads, burning their necks and face.

Mustang seemed to be slowly picking up his pace, making the others move faster in turn, even if it was hard on their injuries. When someone would exclaim in pain or yell in annoyance, Mustang would hardly spare them half a glance before moving faster than before and repeating that they had a mission to finish, like he was some odd cross-breed between a parrot and a dog who only took orders from his master.

Edward's heart pounded out of fear and from the speed at which they were now running at. The Major kept announcing how far away their rendezvous point was every few minutes and as they got closer and closer to the point, more and more gun fire could be heard. Ed found it strange that even though he heard all of the noises of war loud and clear, the group did not run into any opposing soldiers or anymore obstacles like the bomb before.

Mustang seemed to notice this as well, seeing as he hardly ever stopped mumbling to himself now and his paranoia levels seemed to be going off the charts. Ed looked at the other soldiers and saw confusion mingled with a slight worry on their faces; they probably thought that their commanding officer had gone certifiably insane. But with each step closer to their goal, Edward had to admit that he felt the paranoia that Mustang was feeling too.

But soon, the paranoia stopped abruptly with the appearance of another squadron of enemy soldiers who fired blindly at them. Everyone seemed to snap back into reality and followed Mustangs command to hide behind a large, fallen structure and fire. Not all of the men who were left in the squad had a weapon anymore due to the explosive powers of the bomb, but during their walking through the city the men slowly collected some fallen weapons until everyone had one.

Again, Edward had a hard time forcing himself to shoot but when he did, Ed clearly saw his bullet connect with an enemy's chest and saw the dark blood fly out of him as he fell to the ground, dead.

He could not lie to himself or try to make himself believe in the possibilities anymore, he had killed someone. He had killed a living, breathing, thinking individual who probably would be sad at the news of his death. These thoughts made Edward want to collapse but he knew that if he did, there was the high probability that he would be next.

_I have to stay alive_, Ed thought as he forced himself to continue firing like the rest of the soldiers. _I have to stay alive for Al. Al and Russell and Fletcher and even Rose. I can't die now…_

Eventually, a loud yell in a language that Ed did not understand from the other side rang out and the enemy soldiers retreated into side streets. Mustang stayed in his crouched position for another moment before he let his rifle drop and he stood up; the other soldiers followed suit.

"We're about one-hundred yards away from the rendezvous point," he spoke softly to the group. "If we continue down this road, it's a straight shot but odds are, there will be several traps. But if we go down a series of side streets, it'll take about another thirty or so minutes but it'll probably be safer."

Without another word, the Major walked a few steps forwards before turning down a side street; the others quickly got the idea and followed after the man.

* * *

They walked and at shorter intervals than before, they would stop and check for any sign of the enemy or any hidden threat. It seemed that Mustang did not want to risk their chance of completing the mission this close to the finish. Finally they were in sights distance from the point and Edward could see what was waiting for them.

It was a battlefield.

There were several trenches set up parallel to each other and inside of them were several men, all firing and shooting and falling to the ground as they were hit with the enemy weapon. Ed could visibly see the men around him stiffening and trying to prepare themselves for what would come.

"Stay low and follow me," Mustang said quietly as he dropped to a crawl and moved towards the beginning of one of the trenches. When he dropped into it, he straighten himself up a little, he was still hunched slightly, and moved to a slight run before he tapped the shoulder of another soldier, another major by the uniform, before the other major called out to some men and left with his men.

After a moment of hesitation, one of the men in Ed's squad followed Mustang and went into the trench. Slowly, each man followed the lead of the other and slowly and quietly went in after them until Ed was left alone, standing frozen in fear. He could hear, just over the roar of gunfire, Mustang yelling and screaming at him to follow his orders but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't move. It took the power of a well aimed bullet to get him to move.

Edward did as the others did and crawled on the hot ground before sliding carefully into the trench that was about five feet deep, meaning that most, if not all, of the men had to crouch so that they would not get hit by enemy fire. Ed saw that there were probably about fifteen other men in the trench and tried his best to ignore the piles of bodies that lay a few feet away from the trenches.

"Okay, listen!" Mustang yelled over the roar of the fighting. "Find a good place to stay and fire! You don't want your head to go that far above the top of these so stay low! Try to aim but don't if you risk your head."

"So you just want us to fire blindly?" asked a disgruntled soldier.

Mustang stared him down for a moment before he spoke.

"Fire in that direction," he pointed behind him towards the enemy lines, "and odds are, you'll hit someone that's not on our side. Got it?"

Mustang then took a few steps away from them and began to set up shot at his new position. The other all dispersed to some point along the ditch leaving Ed in his place. He turned to face the earthen wall and decided that where he stood was good enough. There was a slight tap on his left shoulder and he turned to see Mustang staring at him with a box in hand and a cigarette smoking in between his lips.

"Ammo?" he asked with a slight mumble.

"Uh, right," Ed stuttered as he took the box and began putting new shells into his rife and other weapons.

There was another moment before Mustang nudged his shoulder again but this time he held out a box of open cigarettes. Ed hesitated for a moment at the site of them. He had never smoked before but had no real negative thoughts over them. So he shrugged and tried to act as if he had done it a million times before he grabbed one, placed it in between his lips and allowed the man to light it with a metallic lighter.

Rich smoke filled his lungs as he inhaled cautiously and he wiled himself not to go into a fit of coughs. But Mustang seemed to realize what he was doing, because he smirked slightly at him and stared at him out of the corner of his eye for a moment before he turned his attention back to the rifle in his hands.

The men all fired wildly and at random intervals. Ed's ears rung from such a noise at close proximity and he wished he was able to cover them while firing. Really, he wished he did not have to fire at all but with Mustang right next to him, he felt the pressure to impress even if he didn't know why.

When Ed had to reload his rifle, he took as long as he could to; he did not like firing blindly and he did not like the idea that he was killing people that he could not even see. The image from the man he killed before kept resurfacing and made it impossible for him to shoot. His hands shook so badly and he had to shake his head several times before the image left his mind, only to resurface minutes later. He thought he was doing alright hiding it, but a pair of dark eyes watched him unknowingly whenever he had to duck out and slowly reload his rifle.

* * *

They stayed there for hours, until night had fallen and the firing became, if possible, wilder. Edward was able to over hear things spoken to Mustang on the mall radio that he carried around with him. Apparently, another squad did not make it to the point or were unable to for some reason and they had to stay longer than initially ordered. It made Edward fearful of how the Hell they would get back through the maze of the ruined city and back to safety.

But eventually, a group of men appeared at the beginning of the trench and the leader told Mustang that they were free to go. He organized all of his men and told them to do as they did before and crawl until they reached the safety of the building. They each were given a small lantern to carry but were told only to turn to on when ordered to. It was harder to follow Mustang through the city now that it was dark and the only things they could see were the outlines of items and people from the small light supplied by the moonlight.

It was much quieter as they ran through the city but it did not help Edward's increasing paranoia. When there were noises, he knew that there were people there. But now that there was close to no sound, he had no idea if there was really no one there, or if they were simply hiding in the shadows, ready to take you out.

Mustang decided to take a different route back, seeing as most of the main roads would be cleared of other soldiers, and their way back took a lot less time than the way in; they were able to see the lights of camp within an hour.

Once they had passed the two tall towers, they group breathed a collective sigh of relief. They had made it through the day. They would be the lucky ones for right now and celebrate in the fact that they were not being stacked up under white sheets in the broken coroners building. While most of the group left to go relax, meaning that they'd eat a meal or two or three before drowning themselves in liquor and collapsing in their bunks, Ed decided to wonder around the lively camp.

He thought about visiting Jean, the blond always seemed to be able to cheer him up, but nixed the idea once he realized that maybe he was out on the field right now and he did not want to think about Jean being forced out there. With no clear destination, Edward let his feet travel to where ever they wanted and soon, he found himself standing in front of the large medical tent.

There were several lanterns hanging from the ceiling and a handful of doctors and nurses ran around the tent, going from bed to bed. It seemed that most of the cots in the tent were filled by bleeding and moaning soldiers. He wondered vaguely if the man who was saved from the horrors of the battle was in the tent or if he had already been discharged.

Whatever small thoughts that floated through his mind left him when he saw three blond-haired and blue eyed people hovering over one bed. They were all dressed in army scrubs with blood-covered aprons over them. Two of them seemed to be in the forties but still looked fit and healthy while the other was the girl he had seen the other night. Ed realized that the other two could possibly be the girl's parents due to the striking resemblances. After a moment of thought, he decided to move towards the tent and listened into their conversation.

"What happened to him?" Asked the older woman.

"Bomb," spoke the man softly. "He was out with his squad and a bomb went off by them. Legs blown right off him."

Ed inched forwards in morbid curiosity to see if he could see the patient but couldn't.

"What did his file say?" Asked the woman. "Any family?"

"None," the man said.

"Well… what should we do?"

"It's obvious," spoke the girl at last.

The forced smile he had seen her swear before was gone and instead she wore an almost defiant scowl. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she was tapping one of her boot-clad feet impatiently.

"We should hand him over to granny and see what she can do."

"I don't think we should-"

"But mom," spoke the girl again, sounding annoyed. "I don't think the kid _wants_ to live the rest of his life without most of his legs. We'd be doing him a favor."

"We can't do it without _consent, Winry,_" spoke her father sternly.

_Winry_, Ed thought quietly.

"You doctors and you're rules," Winry huffed with a slight roll of her eyes.

"If you don't want to follow the rules, we can send you back home," her mother said just as stern as the father.

"No way!" Winry cried. "It's so boring there! I'd die!"

"Well then you have to follow our orders."

"Fine. But what if he wakes up and decides that he wants them? Then can I call Granny?"

"Yes," her mother said. "But only if he knows the consequences _and_agrees to it Winry. You can't just take people away without their con-"

"I got it, I got it!" Winry cried in exasperation as she threw her hands up in the air. "Geez, if I had a buck for every time you guys said the words 'consent' I'd be stinking rich."

Winry turned her head to stare angrily out the opening of the tent and for a moment, her and Ed's eyes locked. Her eyes narrowed for a fraction of a minute before she made a motion with her head that obviously meant for him to leave. Once a moment passed over Edward, he shook his head and walked briskly away from the tent and the three blonds. But as he looked back to see if Winry was still looking at him, he saw who was in the hospital bed instead.

It was the boy from his squad. And his legs ended at his knees wrapped up in blood-soaked bandages.

* * *

**It's Winry! I'm actually going to make her kind of a badass in this and not her usually, kinda whinny self. So she will be OOC sometimes before anyone points it out.**

**So, next chapter there will definitely be a helping helping of angst from Ed and maybe we'll catch up and see what's going on with Al. Who knows.**

**Hope you send me a review! :D Happy Holidays!**

**-FSK**


	16. Dealing

**MY BIRTHDAY WAS YESTERDAY! XD SIXTEEN YEARS OLD! ( I feel so much different)**

**Alrighty then, enough of that. Sorry for the wait for this chapter, school is a major time suck. :(**

**Thanks for the reviews I got last chapter and thanks to my lovely editor Dani. :)**

**In this chapter I chose to focus both on Ed and Al and there will be more interactions between Ed and Mustang that I hope everyone enjoys.**

* * *

The image would not go away; it seemed to be permanently imprinted on the inside of his eye lids. All Edward could see when he closed his eyes was the image of the young man, laying on the cot, covered in blood, his legs ending at the knees. Whenever he opened his eyes, all he seemed to see was the empty cot across from his own. He had been up for much to long and he knew that any minute he would probably be woken up and he wouldn't be able to sleep for a long time after that. Once the gentle rays of sunlight began to peak into the opening of the tent, Edward pushed himself up and began to walk towards the opening. As he passed by all of the now empty beds, his stomach tightened more and more with survivor's guilt until he was sure he would have to vomit from it.

The rays hurt Ed's sore eyes for a few minutes after he stepped out into the light but it soon dissipated. As he stared around the camp, he noticed several men sitting around fires, talking, laughing (rather forcefully, Ed noticed) and drinking heavily. After a minute of decision, Ed moved to the closest fire and sat down on an empty long.

No one else sat at the logs and the fire was flickering as it tried to sustain itself. Ed sighed heavily and stared wearily into the dying flames, for how long, he had no idea, but he only stopped when someone sat down next to him. Ed did not look up at the person but knew who it was once they spoke.

"They say it gets easier," Mustang muttered, also staring into the flickering flames.

"And what do you say?" Ed asked, voice sounding gruff as he had not used it in some time now.

"I say it's a load of shit," Mustang said as he placed another cigarette between his lips and lit it with a match before throwing it into the fire. "As long as we're not doing this of our own free will, I don't think it'll ever get easier."

"But we are doing it out of free will," Ed sighed. "We could choose not to fire. We could choose to run away from this all."

"Not really. Most of the people here were forced here under threat of imprisonment and the ones who voluntarily signed up probably don't want to kill living, breathing humans just for some pointless war. Only the worst of us are doing this out of complete free will."

Edward looked at Mustang out of the corner of his eye. He looked rather pale and just as tired as Ed felt. The dark shadow on his jaw and the dirtiness and the disheveled quality of his clothes only added to his worn out appearance. He had to wonder in the back of his mind how long the major had been here.

"Want one?" Mustang mumbled as he stared at the dirty ground and held the cigarette package to Edward.

Edward reached out and grabbed one of the thin cylinders before he could even think about it. Mustang lit another match and held it up to the end of the cigarette for him before he tossed the smoking stick into the dying flames. The two sat there in silence for several more minutes before Mustang spoke.

"You know, you just can't give up here."

"What are you talking about?" Ed muttered as he exhaled a puff of smoke.

"I know you're kind and I know what you're thinking. You have someone who cares about you somewhere so don't do anything stupid if you can avoid it."

Edward turned his head and stared at Mustang in confusion. He simply glanced at Ed before sighing and getting up from his seat.

"I gotta go," he said of his shoulder as he ground his cigarette into the dirt with his boot. "We shouldn't have to go back out for another day so relax for a while if you can."

And with that, Mustang walked away from Edward and out of sight.

Edward let his head drop and he stared at his dirty hands for a moment before he closed his eyes and clenched his hands into tight fists. No matter what he did, the knot in his stomach would not leave him and his conscious felt like it weight a hundred tons. He didn't know what to do. Without another moment of thought, he tossed the spent cigarette bud into the embers and began to walk aimlessly through the waking camp.

* * *

They had been moving non-stop for hours on end, hardly ever stopping for a break. Whenever someone asked for a moment of rest, Alphonse would respond that they needed to travel as much as they could during the night and would sleep once they had found a good hiding place for the day.

"Al," Russell spoke, his exhaustion evident in his voice as the three men continued to trudge through the forest, "we _have_ to find somewhere to sleep."

"Yeah," Fletcher agreed with a heavy sigh. "It may take us a while to find a place to sleep and if we don't find one before the sun comes up, we could be in trouble."

Al continued to walk for a moment before he stopped, turned around to face the two exhausted men, and began to glance around the greenery.

They were walking right in the middle of a seemingly never-ending forest. Tall trees and thick bushes stood around them, sometimes hindering their paths, and thick, long grasses grew up to their knees at some points. There was no path that they followed, seeing as paths would be easier for others to follow them on, but they made sure never to stray too far away from the babbling brook the flowed several feet away. A steep hill followed them to their lefts and it seemed rather treacherous to climb. The sun had not yet risen but by Al's watch, it was bound to rise within the hour. He knew that they would need to find shelter and soon.

He moved his flashlight up the steep hill and stared at a small rock cropping that hung over the edge slightly. After a moment of silent debate, he sighed and turned back to look at Russell and Fletcher.

"I think there might be some shelter up there," Al said, motioning up the hill with his flashlight.

"Do you think it's safe to climb?" Fletcher asked hesitantly.

"Well, we'll never know if we don't try," Russell said briskly as he took off his rucksack and placed it on the forest floor. "I'll go up and check it."

"Don't kill yourself," Al said as Russell began to scale the wall of dirt with his hands and feet.

Russell's grumbled response and lewd hand gesture could not be seen or heard in the dark and through the scraping of his climbing. It was several minutes before Russell was able to pull himself up to the top of the steep hill and onto the smooth slab of ground. He pushed himself up and surveyed the land around him.

The ledge was flanked on both sides by two narrow paths, about a foot thick before they thinned to nothing. The hill continued up for probably another ten feet and Russell could see many trees and bushes sprouting up on top of the hill. Several small pants grew sideways out of the hillside, shading part of the ledge.

The ledge itself was about ten feet long, give or take a few feet, and probably just as wide. One side of the ledge was surrounded by small boulders and several small saplings sprouted up through the thick green grass. Russell jumped several times on the ledge to test its strength and when he did not feel a single budge, he called down to the other two.

"This place seems pretty good guys!" he yelled down. "This is probably they best we're going to find for today!"

"Alright," Al called back up to them. "We'll be up in a minute."

"Be careful," Russell said as he sat down on a soft patch of grass. "It can be a bit slippery in spots."

"Got it."

It took a couple of minutes for Al and Fletcher to climb to the top of the hill, slipping often on dewy patches of grass and losing their grips on loose rocks. Once they had reached the top, they surveyed the ledge as Russell did before giving the hiding place the seal of approval. The three men then pulled out their lightweight sleeping bags from the rucksacks and laid them down on the green grass. They then secured their packs at the ends of their sleeping bags and turned off their flashlights, keeping them within a safe distance.

Al could hear Russell and Fletcher's breathing quickly slow down and into a set rhythm but Al could not force himself to fall into sleep, his mind was too preoccupied. All he could think of was of his brother.

He had no idea what Edward was doing at this moment. He had no idea if he was alright, if he was hurt, or if he was even still alive. The unknowns were too much for Al to bear and he instantly wished that he had been more forceful when they talked about their escape plans. He should have made Edward come with them instead of risking his life in some pointless and never-ending war.

_If something were to happen to Ed, it'd be all my fault_, Al thought miserably.

Al groaned before he rolled over onto his side and buried his face deeper into his thin sleeping bag. He had to sleep, he knew this very well. They would only be able to move during the darker hours and if he was too tired to go as far as they could, it would be his fault for hindering the groups progress.

"Everything's my fault," Al whispered as quietly as humanly possible. "It always is…"

_What if the plan doesn't work? What if we won't be able to run away after all? What if we just die in the process?_

After spending a few more minutes awake and filled with self-doubt, Al's exhaustion finally got the better of him and he fell into a deep sleep. He would be woken hours later around sundown by Fletcher as Russell prepared a meal before they got ready to leave their spot. Al ate his bland and small meal quickly and without really tasting any of it. Once everyone was fed and watered and rested and all of their items were safely packed away, they slowly slid down the steep hill, one by one, until they were back on the forest path.

"Let's keep moving," Al said as he began to march on the same path as the night before. "I want to be out of this forest by tomorrow morning."

"And where will we hide after we're out of here?" Russell asked from behind Al.

"I know the towns around the border of the Great Desert aren't that keen on turning in people with misdemeanors and seeing as we've only been gone for a day, we should be able to stay at an Inn for a night."

"Are you sure that's safe?" Fletcher asked.

"No, but Ed suggested it. He said that it would be good to stock up on some supplies before we have to go into the Desert, seeing as our chances for stocking up again will be few and far between."

"What town are we going to?"

"He suggested Youswell," Al said through a yawn. "I think it'll be a good place to stop."

* * *

**So I hope you enjoyed! :D**

**Next chapter, I'm not quit sure who I'm going to be focusing on more. I may do Ed more than Al but it's something that I'm going to have to think about.**

**I word of warning for updates, the dreaded time of Mid-terms are coming to my school and seeing as I'm going to be drowning in study guides for the next week or two, updates may slow down some more. Sorry but I'll try my hardest to update as often as I can.**

**Goodbye for now and I hope you send me a review as a birthday present!**

**-FSK**


	17. Hysteria

**Hello readers! Sorry for the wait. Stupid school...**

**The story will really begin to pick up the pace after this chapter so get ready.**

**I'd like to thank my editor for the hundredth time or so for her helpfulness and her wonderful editing abilities. :) Thanks Dani.**

**Hope you like it.**

* * *

It was rather late now. He should be back in his tent. He should, but he wasn't. He didn't want to go back to the tent that seemed to be crushing his spirit as much as the rest of this place. That dreaded tent where he was forced to think about all of those things that his mind desperately tried to block out during the daylight hours. He didn't want to go back to sleep ever again. All he saw were dead bodies lying in ruins, soldiers killing one another, and that boy… that boy who no longer lay in the medical tent. The boy seemed to haunt his dreams most of all.

It had been three days since Edward had returned from the battlefield and had seen the boy lying helpless and crippled in the tent. He had been systematically checking on the boy through the opening of the tent when no one was watching him. Twice he had seen the girl, Winry, when he had stopped by. Both times she had glared at him while she did something like redressing wounds until he had enough sense to leave.

The sound of a breaking bottle broke Edward out of his deep thought. He turned around to see a drunken soldier fall to the ground, the shattered remains of a bottle lying next to him. Edward thought about going to help the poor man up but decided not to. Maybe that man was haunted by the same things that Edward was and didn't want to leave his spot, staring up at the dark sky and the stars.

"Cadet!" someone called from behind him.

Edward turned to see a stern looking man, probably in his late thirties, early forties.

"It's past curfew. Aren't you supposed to be in your tent?" he barked.

"…I was just going there now," Edward said, inwardly cringing at how emotionless his voice sounded.

Before the officer could say another word, Edward picked up his pace and continued to walk with no particular destination. There had been news that he would have to come back to the battlefield the next day. He should be getting some sleep. He would be needing his rest to stay as alert as possible.

Edward stopped in his tracks and stared up at the deep, dark sky. His thoughts began to drift towards Alphonse and he wondered if he was alright. There had been a few reports of caught draft deserters but he was sure Al, Russell, and Fletcher were bright enough to stand out, not to mention that their cover at the Hotel should still hold them there for a few more days without suspicion.

"I wonder how far you've gotten," Ed whispered as he picked up his feet and began to move again.

* * *

"We've made it," Alphonse sighed in relief at the sight of the small town.

He had been worried; it had taken them twice as long as he had expected to get through the forest and the fact that he had caught news of people hunting draft deserters didn't help either.

The sun was about to rise within an hour. It was perfect time to check in to a local Inn. Al just hoped that there was a vacancy somewhere. It wouldn't help them at this crucial point to be caught sleeping in an alley way by a police officer or something.

"Come on guys," Al hissed as he saw the two tried blonds straggling behind him.

He had started to worry about the two brothers over the past night. They both seemed to need more rests than in the beginning and they were burning through their food and water quicker than Al had anticipated. They also seemed to sleep in longest and had trouble waking up.

"I really need to find a nice soft bed," Russell moaned as he helped his younger brother over a large, fallen tree.

"And some more water," Fletcher sighed as he drank the last of his water. "We're really going to need to stock up."

"And we're all going to have to start rationing better," Al said sternly.

"We are!" Russell said. "But it's hard to be doing all of this work and not eating as much."

Al gave them a slightly sympathetic look before he motioned for the two brothers to follow after him and into the empty streets of the town.

The town of Youswell was a quiet town that seemed to be made of wood. There was one main street that ran on for about a mile until it hit the beginning of the mines. Behind the main street, a few small houses were peppered here and there but it appeared that most of the citizens lived above the shops that they owned. After several minutes spent looking around the tiny town, the three located what seemed to be the only Inn in town.

"Looks like we'll just have to wait here until morning," Al muttered grumpily as he noted the sign that was affixed to the front of the door. "Maybe an hour if we're lucky."

"Do you think any stores are open?" Fletcher asked.

"Doubt it," Russell sighed as he sat down next to Al on the front porch.

So they waited for almost two hours until shops began to open up around the main street. A few people who passed them told them that the man, Halling, who owned the Inn wouldn't be up for about another hour.

"Perfect," Al mumbled. "Well we could start looking around town for supplies."

"I guess if we have nothing else to do," Russell said as he poorly attempted to cover a yawn. "Come on Fletch."

As they dragged their tired bodies through town, they made note of all of the stores and shops that they would need to go to. A few of them were opened so they purchased what they needed. The tiny market place was opening as the three passed by so Al took it upon himself to inspect the food. He purchased a number of canned goods and non-perishable items like crackers, dried beef, and dried fruit. The women at the market instantly realized that they weren't from the town.

"We're on a little vacation," Al said with an innocent smile. "It is summer vacation after all."

"Ah yes," she said as she scanned their purchases. "You boys look like you've been running around in the dirt for days!"

"Nah," Russell lied seamlessly. "Just a bit of ruff-housing."

"I see," she said before inspecting the blond hair and faces of each boy. "Are you related?"

"Cousins," Al answered simply. They had used this lie several times before over the years of them being friends.

"We're brothers though," Russell said, motioning to himself and Fletcher.

"Ah, well, have fun on your trip," she said as she handed them the stuffed bags. "Are you going to be staying in town for a little?"

"Maybe a night or two."

"Well, I'm sure I'll see you again. Good bye."

"Bye," Al said with a small wave.

Once out of the store, Al made his way back to the Inn, hoping that it would be opened now. When they arrived at the Inn, Al was rather pleased to see the front door wide open and an 'open' sign hanging in the window.

The main room of the Inn appeared to be a lively tavern of sorts. Many men sat at tables that sat around the room, eating breakfast, drinking, and laughing. Al noticed the smiling women standing at a small counter and walked over to her, hoping she might be of some help.

"Hello strangers," she said in a kind, motherly voice. "I'm guessing you three boys need a room."

"Yes," Al said; it unnerved him a little how everyone knew he wasn't from around here in an instant. He did not plan on being here long at all.

"You're in luck; we have one room left with three beds if that's alright. Otherwise you'll need to get two."

"We'll take the three," Al said with a smile.

"Follow me then."

They walked to the back of the room and through a dimly lit hallway. Each side of the hall had several wooden doors, some open some closed shut. The lady led them to one of the very last room's and opened the door for them.

"I hope this is alright with you," she said as the three boys took in the room.

It wasn't that big but it felt warm and didn't seem cramped in the least. Three beds lined the opposite wall with a large window hanging behind the middle bed. In the left corner held a small wooden table with an old lamp on it. On the right wall held a small wooden door; Al suspected it may contain a shower.

"It's lovely," Russell said.

"Now, how long do you think you'll be staying?"

"A night."

"Okay then. Oh, right over there is the bathroom with a shower," she said pointing to the door. "There's also a bathroom at the beginning of the hall."

"Thank you."

"Well, I'll let you get settled in. We serve meals all day and night so don't be afraid to come down and get a hot meal."

With that, the lady left them to their business. Russell instantly collapsed on the end bed and let out a loud sigh of relief.

"I'm so tired," he said in an extremely muffled voice. "Good. Night."

Al and Fletcher rolled their eyes at the blond before they began to go through their own items. After a few minutes, snoring started to come from the blond.

"Impressive," Al mumbled. "I'm going to take a shower; you make you he doesn't suffocate."

Fletcher nodded with a grin as he sat down on the middle bed.

* * *

Edward had continued to walk around for another hour and only stopped because he had been stopped by the same officer as before and was escorted back to his tent. The second he walked back into the tent, he cringed slightly, hearing all of the slightly muffled groaning and whimpering. Everyone seemed to be being tormented by their consciouses. Ed walked to the back of the tent until he reached his own cot and collapsed on it.

He woke up several hours later but not because he had to get up. A nightmare had forced him awake. When Ed blinked his eyes to rid them of sleep, he saw that the tent was nearly empty.

_I guess maybe I don't have to go out today_, Ed thought, feeling his mood lighten a little.

When he walked out of the tent and felt the heat of the sun beating down on his head, Ed guessed that it had to be around noon. He was surprised that no one had woken him up but then thought that if they had nothing to do, soldiers could sleep if they could get it.

Yawning slightly, Edward walked over to Mess Hall for some much needed food.

"Hey Ed!" someone called once he walked into the tent.

He turned and saw Jean Havoc waving at him from two tables over. Ed waved back before walking over to the man and taking a seat next to him.

"Hey Jean," Ed said, forcing a smile on his face.

"What's going on, little guy?" he said with a hearty laugh and a good slap on the back.

"I was going to get some food," Ed said through a clenched jaw as his fists tighten until his knuckles were white.

"Get it in a minute. I want to introduce you to some of the guys."

Jean motioned to the people who were sitting across form him. Three men and one young blond woman. It turned out that even though Jean wasn't in the sniper program, he was friends with a number of them. Two of the men seemed to blend together and Edward couldn't remember which was which. They both had the same brown hair chopped extra short with icy blue eyes, and pale, thin faces. The other man had darker skin with short dark hair, a wide face and big brown eyes. The women was pale with blond hair chopped short like the men but had longer bangs. She had round amber eyes and didn't seem to be a day older than Jean.

"This is Riza, Ed," Jean said, motioning to the thing woman who continued to pick at her food. "Riza, Ed."

"Uh, hey," Ed said nervously.

After a moment, Riza looked up at Edward and nodded in hello. Edward felt his stomach twist when he saw the exhaustion in her eyes and the sickly look to her skin.

"Um, can I get my food now?" Ed growled to Jean.

"Fine, fine."

For the next hour or two, Edward sat at the table with Jean, Riza, and the three men as Jean tried his hardest to make the situation light. The darker-skinned man went along and laughed at Jean's jokes and even said some of his own. The two other men- could they be brothers? –kept their mouths closed and didn't speak more than a few words at a time. Riza however, would sometimes join in randomly to the conversation before dropping out suddenly, seemingly preoccupied with whatever was going on in her mind.

The group broke up when the dark-skinned man had to leave along with Riza and Jean realized he had better leave as well. Ed got up with Jean, leaving the two men by themselves.

"When do you have to go out again?" Jean asked quietly.

"There were rumors of going out this morning but obviously they were wrong. Maybe later today. You?"

"I just got back yesterday so I won't need to for another day or two," Jean said with a heavy sigh as he placed a cigarette between his lips and lit it.

"Oh."

"Yeah. But I wanted to tell you to be really careful," Jean said, his blue eyes going sharp with seriousness. "There seem to be more land mines and bombs than originally expected."

"Yeah," Edward said hollowly as he thought of the explosion from before. "I've heard that as well."

"Just don't do anything rash. I'm saying this as a friend."

"Well same to you when you go out again."

Ed returned back to his tent an hour later. Not because he wanted to but because he had no where else to go. After an hour spent lying on his cot, staring up at the canvas roof, there was some commotion coming from outside of the tent that was then brought inside before Edward could get up to inspect.

Several men from his squad came rushing into the tent, Major Mustang and Captain Hughes leading them. Edward and the two other men who were lying in their cots sat up.

"We're being sent out again," Hughes said, face set sternly as he eyed the three men. "We have to be out there in less than an hour and at the rendezvous point in two."

"Two?" one man asked in shock. "How do they expect us all to get there in two hours?"

"I don't know," Hughes said heavily with a shake of his head. "But apparently we were supposed to have gone out a few hours ago but whoever had the message never made it to us. Just get ready A.S.A.P."

Edward rushed to get himself in order and before he knew it, he was holding his rifle and was minutes away from risking his life again. He didn't know why, but for some reason, he was more terrified to go back to the battlefield a second time. Maybe it was because he had already made it out once before and going in a second time would just shorten the odds on his survival.

"Come on," Major Mustang commanded as he made them march out into the open land.

Edward's heart was pounding against his ribcage and his palms were sweating so much that his rifle kept coming close to slipping out of his hands but his eyes still felt heavy with his lack of sleep. The hot sun seemed to be warping his surroundings and eventually, he felt like he was hearing things.

_What is that noise_? Ed asked himself as he looked around.

They were not quit in the confined of the dilapidated city yet but they were close enough to see come dead bodies lying around. It made him want to vomit.

Suddenly, the Major stopped and looked up at the sky in terror. He yelled something that Edward could not hear over the now defining sound. Mustang grabbed a few men and tossed them to the side and so did Hughes. Edward went to follow them and hide behind a rock out cropping.

He looked up and saw thin, sleek airplanes flying in circle around the camp. It didn't make any sense to Edward, until he saw the camp go up in flames as bomb after bomb was dropped.

Edward turned to look at Mustang and saw him get up to run towards camp but was tackled to the ground by Hughes, who yelled something at him that no one could hear.

And then suddenly, the loud humming of the airplanes reached their peak. Ed looked up in time to see a plane, about fifteen off of them, drop a bomb and everything was instantly engulfed in darkness and heat.

* * *

**Dun-nun-NUN! (ah, cliffhangers, I've missed you so)**

**Uh-oh. That's not good... anyone want to take a guess at what will happen next? ****You'll just have to stick around and find out!**

**Super excited for next chapter because I've had like, half of it written since I first started this story.**

**Thanks for readin! Hope you send me a review!**

**-FSK**


	18. The Kidnapping

**Hello readers! :D**

**Thank you for everyone who sent me a review last chapter! I appreciated them very much. :)**

**Now, you can find out what happens after that awful cliff-hanger I gave you last chapter. I am SUPER excited about this chapter! I've had 75% of it written for months and I love it so much. I just hope that all of you love it as much.**

**Thank you to my lovely editor, Dani, and I hope you all love the chapter!**

* * *

Pain. Pain was the first thing that registered in his foggy mind. Then the heat hit him and it only seemed to increase the pain. He gave into the pain and let out a groan.

_What happened_? Ed asked himself as he tried desperately to piece together what had happened to him.

Edward could hear voices but they were all extremely muffled. He tried to open up his heavy eyelids but he couldn't. Or maybe he could because he thought he had managed to open his eyes, but everything was still dark. Was it night? Was something covering his eyes? Was he blind?

His heart began to race at the thought. How could he be blind? What would he do…?

_Wait…_

Edward slowly shifted his head and a tiny beam of light could be seen. He felt relief come as fast as the panic had come before. Maybe he wasn't blind but something was definitely wrong.

He was lying somewhere… on something soft. Well, maybe soft wasn't the right word to use but it was definitely softer than the hard packed earth. Was he lying on his cot?

_Was that all a dream?_

Edward forced himself to remember what had happened but the only thing he could come up was a few flashes: him marching with the other men to the battle; a odd noise; a plane; an explosion…

Edward's eyes flew open as he remembered. There had been a bombing! He quickly tried to force himself up but was quickly attacked by intense and indescribable pain. He let out a painful cry and collapsed on the cot.

There was a worried voice somewhere a few feet away from him. It came closer the more he struggled. Why was he in so much pain…?

"Whoa, calm down, calm down," said a soft, motherly voice. "You're just going to open up your wounds."

_Wounds?_

Edward opened his mouth to speak but only another painful moan came out. He tried again with the same results.

"You need to relax," the women said.

Edward, in his addled state, begun to shake his head and tried to sit up and move but the pain was too much for him and he eventually had to stop. The pain was mostly centered under his left knee and at his right shoulder. Odd places to be in pain… maybe he broke bones of something.

"Urey!" the women cried. "I need some sedatives. Quick!"

Edward shook his head faster until something fell from his face and he could see. He guessed someone had placed a cloth over his eyes so he could sleep during the bright day.

In the brief moments of sight, Edward took in the scene around him. Above him was off-white canvas. Around him were cots filled with other moaning and groaning people. There was a strong and unpleasant smell of anti-septic and blood in the air. His tired eyes looked up at the woman who was yelling for 'Urey' and saw that it was the blond woman from before who he assumed to be Winry's mother.

_I'm in… the medical tent?_ Ed asked himself in confusion. _I guess I must have gotten hurt…_

Edward turned his head to the right and his stomach curled up into a painful ball and he thought his heart had stopped.

…he had no arm. No right arm to speak of. Not even a stump. It just ended at the shoulder.

Edward's eyes widened to the size of saucers as he began to scream incomprehensively. The woman placed both of her hands on Edward's shoulder, mindful of the now bleeding wound, and tried to stop his movements.

"Urey!" she cried. "Where's the sedative?"

Even though he knew it was wrong, Edward went to kick the women with is left leg but only received pain. He tried to think of why the kick had not connected and looked down at his legs. Except, he only had one leg. Only one whole leg, that is. His left leg ended at a stump right below his knee.

Edward didn't know why, but the loss of his leg seemed to be much more substantial that he realization that he had lost an entire arm. What would he do for the rest of his life? Spend his life sitting in a wheel chair, crippled? He couldn't just sit around forever! Edward raised his left arm slowly and placed his hand over his eyes.

He felt the sting of tears in his eyes and let them run down his cheek. He may be stubborn, but that was back when he was whole. Now, why shouldn't he cry? He had nothing to lose, no respect to lose by bawling over this. No one would ever look at him the same anymore. There would be no respect, only pity and it made Edward feel sick to his stomach.

He felt the woman gently grip his remaining hand. She tried to pull it away from Edward but he pulled back; he wanted hide in his pain and misery and she was not helping. Finally, he gave up and let her do whatever with his arm.

_Take it too_, he thought pitifully. _I don't see any point in using it now…_

Edward cracked open one of his eyes and saw that in one hand, the women held a syringe and was pressing it to his skin. He turned his head away, not wanting to see the needle puncture his skin. His vision began to blur but as everything began turn darker and blurrier, he thought he saw someone. Someone with long blond hair who was watching him, looking rather displeased with his display of emotions.

Before he could figure out who it was, everything went black.

* * *

"_Wake up_…"

Someone was repeatedly hissing this into his ear as his mind tugged over what he should do: wake up-like whoever was doing this wanted him to do-, or fall back into another drug-induced sleep. He wanted to sleep. It was all he wanted to do now for the rest of his life. Especially now that he was…now that his…

"_Fucking. Wake. Up!"_

Ed couldn't help but let out a small groan as the person began shaking his good shoulder roughly. Who the hell was this person? And why were they doing this to him? Ed finally gave up on trying to fall back to sleep and decided that he would give this person a piece of his mind.

…Blue. That was what Ed saw when he finally managed to pry open his sleep-encrusted eyes. A pair of big, light blue eyes were hovering only a few inches above his. After this, Ed couldn't help but notice long, light blond locks that was pulled back into a long pony-tail with a faded red bandana tied around her forehead. Finally, Ed felt heat flood to his cheeks when he realized that the only thing covering her torso was a small, black tube top. It was Winry, the girl he had seen before, assisting her parents in the medical tents.

"Hey!" Winry hissed again before she thrust a gloved finger to point at her own face. "I'm up _here,_ perv."

"Uh, s-sorry…"

"You better be. If you didn't look so damn pathetic, lying here, I'd have to slug you."

Ed's eyes suddenly caught sight of something that was gleaming from the moonlight in her pants pocket. It was a very heavy looking wrench. Ed could not help but gulp at the thought of this girl rapping him over the head with that thing.

"Yeah," she said, her own eyes traveling to stare at the wrench with a slightly twisted grin on her pale face, "I've hit people with that. Plenty of times. I'm not above hitting the wounded."

"Who are you?" Ed asked; he knew that he knew her name but wanted to know if she had the common courtesy to tell him her name.

"Hmm, let me see. My first name is Nunuv. And my last name is Yurbizness."

"Funny," Ed muttered darkly. "Really witty."

"Glad you think so. Took me all night to come up with that one," she said sarcastically. "But enough of your stupidity-."

"Hey-!"

"_Shut up_!" Winry hissed while glaring daggers at him. "Do you want any of those guards over there to hear us? I had enough trouble sneaking over here as it was."

Ed stared at Winry, who stood bent doubled over his cot. Who exactly was she? And why exactly did she have to sneak in here in the dead of night for?

"Why are you-?" Ed began but was cut off when she covered his mouth with one of her gloved hands. They reeked horribly of motor oil and Ed was sure he was going to start gagging soon.

"Do you want your life back?"

"Wha…?" Ed asked, his voice muffled by the thick glove.

"Don't just lay there looking like a beached fish! Do you want your life back or not? Do you want a chance to live normally as possible again? Do you want people to stop pitying you just because you're a little different?"

Ed suddenly realized that she was talking about his…accident. How because of it he was a…a _freak_. A freak who was missing an entire arm and most of a leg. Before Ed knew what he was doing, he opened his mouth and gave her his honest answer.

"Yes."

At this word, Winry finally cracked an honest-to-God, not one bit snarky or sarcastic, smile. It made her face and eyes brighten in a way Ed didn't think possible. But before he could even comprehend what he had just thought, she heaved him over her shoulder with strength Ed didn't think possible for a body so small, and began to crouch out of the tent.

"What are you doing?" Ed hissed while he struggled slightly.

"Shut up and stop your damn squirming! I swear to God, I'll drop you and leave you for dead right here!"

"…Can you at least tell me were you're taking me to?" Ed asked grumpily. He did not like the idea of being carried by some girl he had just met-or any girl at all for that matter.

"I'm taking you somewhere to get fixed, dumb-ass," she answered curtly before she began sliding down a large sand-dune.

"And where is that exactly?"

"Oh, if I told you that, I might have to kill you."

Ed was not sure if she was lying or not; he decided not to test her attitude and ask. Finally, she reached a small rock outcropping. There was a sharp noise of steal on steal and then a hatch opened in the middle of the ground. A large man popped out the center, and after looking around a moment, spotted them.

"Got 'im?"

"No," she said sarcastically. "This totally isn't the kids' body slung over my back. Now help me get him inside. He's heavier than expected."

_Kid? Heavy? _Edward was only _mildly_ offended at this.

After being lowered down a short, dark shaft, the large man heaved him onto his shoulder and began walking down a dark underground hallway. Winry walked slightly ahead of them.

"Where are we going?" Ed couldn't help but ask; he heard the girl sigh quietly ahead of him.

"Have you ever heard of Automail, kid?" she asked, not looking at him.

"No. Am I _supposed_to know what that is?" Ed asked, annoyed with the fact that she continued to call him 'kid' even though she couldn't have been more than a year older than him.

"Not really. But long story short, it's a new brand of prosthetics. They're made of metal and they're a hundred times more durable and easier to maneuver than regular prosthetics…that is, once you've gotten the hang of them," She added in a slightly grim voice.

"So why don't all people use them?"

"Because they've still got a few bugs in them that the government wants to fix before they're sold out on the open market," the large man answered.

"Bugs?"

"Yeah. You see the Automail is attached to the user's nerves. This makes them easier to use, but also a lot more tricky to attach. Some nasty surgeries are needed to get them. Some people can even _die_ during the surgeries if they don't have enough endurance."

"So then _why the hell_ would I want these damn things if they could kill me?"

Winry stopped in front of the two before turning around and staring Ed dead in the eyes and answering, "Because they're the _best_."

* * *

**Ho shit. That's right. Bad-Ass Winry time. I love writing Winry being a badass... But tell me what you think of my Winry in this story.**

**So, I can tell you that the next few chapters are bound to be crazy and well, more crazy. :P**

**Thanks for reading and I hope you send me a review! **

**-FSK**


	19. Into the Great Unknown

**Ummm... Hi everybody. Sorry for the major delay. I've been really busy with school, have been coughing up my organs for about a week now, and have had some writer's block so I've been a bit distracted. But I feel awful for making you all wait for so long.**

**I would like to really, really thank all of the amazing reviews I got last chapter. :) They makes me happy. And t****hank you to my friend and editor for her help on my mistakes in this chapter.**

**So, this isn't a really big chapter but it is kind of a set up for imporant things to come.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

Edward guessed that he should be feeling at least a little scared or at least worried, being kidnapped in the middle of the night and taken to some underground facility, but strangely, he felt fine.

The large man continued to carry him over his shoulder and down a series of winding dimly lit halls. After several minutes of this, Edward's stomach was beginning to hurt rather badly but just as he was about to let out a complaint, they stopped at a metal door. Winry knocked on it hard and then waited a moment until someone opened it.

"Hey," said a tall, lean, red-haired man. He didn't seem to be much older than himself; probably closer to Jean's age. "That the kid?"

"What? Is this place filled with morons?" Winry cried in exasperation. "Yes, this the bloody kid alright? Just let us in."

The red-haired man shrugged before moving out of the way to let them inside.

Edward looked around the room and was astonished by what he saw. The room had to be at least one-hundred yards long and about fifty yards across. All along the walls were beds with two white curtains held up for privacy. Some beds were taken, some were empty, and some were covered horribly in blood stains. The ceiling was higher than it was in the halls and it was held up by thick metal girders. Running around the large room were many people. Some looked like doctors and some looked like mechanics.

"Take him over to bed thirteen, Goran," Winry ordered. "We need to get some measurement."

Edward was roughly laid down on one of the many beds and was left alone for a few minutes. The bed was parallel to the ground and it made it rather hard for him it investigate things. He noticed that the bed on his left had the white screen shielding whoever was in the bed while the one on his right did not. Small moans of pain were coming from the bed on the left and it only made his stomach twist in extreme discomfort.

He had never been one for hospitals and even though this looked more like an underground bunker than a hospital, it still gave him the same sick feeling.

Winry and the red-haired man appeared carrying measuring tapes and clipboards.

"We need to take some measurements so that you can get fitted," Winry said as she stepped on a pedal on the floor the brought his bed into an upright position. "Try not to move too much."

"Whatever," Ed mumbled, earning a glare from the blond girl.

The two went to work. The man taking gentle measurements of his left leg and Winry on his right shoulder. Her blond hair kept brushing against his skin, making tiny shivers run down his spin. A few times, her face got rather close to his own and he could feel his skin heat up. She either didn't notice or didn't comment. The man however, seemed to have noticed because a couple times, he caught Ed's eye and smirked.

"What is this place anyways?" Edward asked, feeling uncomfortable with the silence.

"It's an abandoned bunker," answered he man. "It was an Aerugan bunker made at the very beginning of the war. No one ever used it though. It's not even completely done anyways."

"But it's the best place we've got," Winry finished quietly as she scribbled something down on her clipboard. "May not be the best place to heal patients, down here in the dark but what we're doing isn't exactly legal."

"Yeah, and with the military just a stone's throw away we can't really be practicing illegal procedures out in the open."

Winry rolled up her measuring tape and then left without another word. It was rather weird for Edward to see the once mouthy girl turn into this cool and collected person in a flash.

"She takes this stuff seriously," said the man as he rolled up his own measuring tape.

"Huh?" Ed mumbled, giving his head a shake.

"She may seem crazy and snotty to everyone but when it comes to automail, she's a completely different person."

The man held out his left hand to Edward with a small smile. Edward accepted the hand after a moment of confusion when he tried to shake it with his missing right arm.

"Name's Rollan."

"Edward."

"Well Mister Edward," Rollan said as he got up from his seat near Ed's leg, and gave his back a small crack, "I'm sure you'll be rather happy with the results once we're done. The ports will probably be done in a day or two."

"Wait," Ed said, feeling an odd wave of nerves wash over him. "Can you tell me something about this procedure? All I know is that whatever I'm getting will be painful."

Rollan smirked before he placed his clipboard under his arm, took a few steps towards Ed, and collapsed on a seat closer to him.

"Automail isn't a pretty thing, kid," he said gravely. "It isn't the thing for the faint of heart. It's made the most hardened war vets ball their eyes out."

Edward nodded. He could hear from some of the moans and cries from around the bunker that it was definitely painful.

"The first thing we have to do is attach the automail ports. We'll connect your nerve endings to certain areas of the port. It'll be a little easier since your wounds haven't healed yet; sometimes we'll have to reopen wounds and that just adds more unneeded pain. That's why Winry always tries to get her parent's to get the people who need the surgery the most down here pronto. So that we can spare as many people from that pain as we can."

"So those doctors are her parents," Edward said, thinking of the identical blond hair and blue eyes.

"Yup. Sara and Urey Rockbell. They're really nice people," Rollan said with a small smile. "They do their best to help whoever they can."

Edward nodded. He never really had a chance to talk to the two doctors but they did look like caring people.

"You know, they came here right at the beginning of the war, they always wanted to help people."

"Hmm…" Ed mumbled, thinking of how, if Winry was his age, she had been separated from her parents right around the same time as himself. He wondered if it was worse to lose a parent completely, like how he lost his mom, or have them leave and have to worry about them constantly. "So, did she come here recently?"

"A few years ago. She came to help her parents when she was fifteen. That's just when we began to work on the Automail project here. Her parents say that ever since she was a little girl, she's had a fascination with mechanics. Strange kid, huh?"

Edward let out a small laugh as he thought how Ed and Al's obsessive reading habits had been called strange when they were children.

"But her parents relented and thought that maybe she could come as long as she listened to everything told her to do and never went more than a few steps away from the camp."

Edward nodded. He didn't know if his mother or father would ever allow for them to come to such a dangerous place when he was just fifteen.

"How did she manage to get them to let her come?" Ed asked.

"I think she said that in a year she could just sign up to help anyways and if she did, her parents wouldn't have as much control of what she couldn't do."

Rollan smirked and Edward sighed. This Winry girl was really something else. Rollan then looked over his shoulder at something before turning back to Ed and getting up off his seat.

"Sorry, but I gotta go."

"It's fine," Ed said with a smile. "Thanks for the talk."

"No prob, bud," Rollan said. "Just make sure you don't mention this stuff to Winry. She likes to act all secretive and shit. She's just crazy."

"Yeah," Ed said with a sigh. "I kinda got that already."

Rollan let out a hearty laugh before he walked away, leaving Ed by himself once again.

* * *

"Why are you leaving so late? It's awfully dangerous at night to be running around you know," said the kind women at the Inn.

Alphonse, Russell, and Fletcher had stayed in Youswell two days, a whole day more than what Al wanted to originally do. Al only stayed the extra day when he realized how much rest they would need and that some of the items they needed for the trip weren't in the stores and needed a day to arrive from somewhere else. They were now overly stocked on food and water and were ready to leave.

He knew that the desert was scorching during the day but it was cooler during the night. The sun had gone down about an hour ago and the three boys were all ready to go. Al's heart was hammering against his chest in anticipation.

"We have to be somewhere by morning," Al said to the woman with a reassuring smile. "Can't be avoided."

"Well, just remember to be careful," said with women kindly.

"We will, don't worry."

Al walked outside of the Inn and to the very end of town to the beginning of the coal mines, where he knew Russell and Fletcher would be waiting for him with the rest of the baggage. He didn't want to cause a scene by carrying three overly stuff bags out with them.

"Ready?" Al asked them, looking at the packs in their hands and their nervous expressions.

"…are you sure this is what we have to do?" Russell asked, sounding very unlike himself. "I mean, the desert isn't a place to take lightly and anything could happen."

"I know this isn't the most ideal route but it has to be done," Al said, understanding his friend's hesitation completely. "Remember the radio broadcast we heard when we were in the woods? The one about how four runaways were caught?"

"We know," sighed Fletcher.

"This will be tough but we've just got to grit our teeth and do it."

The two blonds nodded as they readjusted their packs.

"Now, let's get a move on."

The desert sand was a pale grey blue in the dark night. In front of them stood almost nothing and behind them was the last civilization they would see for some time. Together, they took a collective breath and took their first shaky steps into the desert.

* * *

**Dun Dun DUUUUUN! Al's getting into the desert and Ed's gonna get some automail. **

**Anyways, I hope you liked it, even though it was short. Please send me a review my way!**

**I'll try to update as soon as I can.**

**-FSK**


	20. Hell on Earth

**Um... hi... _really_ sorry about this not updating in forever thing. Let's just get my excuses out in the open right now and say that I've been sick for over two months (still am), the first two weeks of this month and in February and January, I was super freaking busy with school, and I had some writers block. And I was just kinda taking a break but now I'm back and I will hopefully be updating more regularly now.**

**So... in case anyone forgot Ed's about to be tortured by some automail and Al, Russ, and Fletcher may die from dehydration because they willingly walked into a desert. Super fun.**

**Thank you to my editor, Dani, for sticking with me and editing this chapter.**

**Oh, and YAY for reaching chapter 20 and another YAY for getting 100 reviews. :D Thanks everyone.**

**Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

"Are you ready, kid?"

Edward cracked his tired eyes open before closing them against the harsh yellow light. He had been lying on his cot in the underground bunker of a hospital for a few hours and had finally drifted off. There was no way of telling what time it was because there were no windows and not a single clock in sight. He had to guess it was earl morning now.

Winry was standing over him, much like she was hours before when she woke him up from his bed in the medical tent back at base camp. She was dressed in a full body mechanics suit but had one of those white mouth coverings doctors usually wore pulled down under her chin. She looked determined and it only made Edward feel apprehensive.

"Ready for what?" Ed asked stupidly.

A small, slightly grim smile pulled on her lips before she answered.

"Hell on earth. You're about to get your automail."

* * *

Alphonse had read tons and tons of books on desert climate and how it effected the body. He thought he was ready for what they were getting themselves into. But as their first day in the furnace of a wasteland hit them, their resolve began to crumble, or more like melt, under the bright hot sun.

"Are you really sure we have to go to this extreme?" Russell panted as he stumbled over a clump of sand.

"Russ, I know this is crazy, but you remember the news break we heard earlier," Alphonse said, gesturing to the small radio that was hanging half out of his rucksack.

There had been a news flash that very morning as the sun was just coming up over the horizon. It stated that all runaways or draft deserters would be sent straight to the front lines of the war front. This meant that they had to get out of the country fast if they wanted to keep Ed's last wish for them.

"Can we take a break?" Fletcher asked as he wiped his sweaty forehead. "Just for like, five seconds. My foot's killing me."

"Yeah," Al said with a nod. "Good idea."

The three plopped down tiredly onto the sand and began rifling through their packs for water. Whenever they took a break for water, Alphonse felt the panic of running out of water and dying of dehydration. He had read up plenty on its effects and knew it was not a desirable way to go.

After taking a sip from his canteen, Al pulled out the map of the desert and looked down at the only real landmark. There was an oasis of sorts in the center of the desert. Al just hoped they could make it there before their water ran out.

"Let's get moving," Al said as he put the map back into his bag and stood up.

"Can't we stay here?" Fletcher asked. "Isn't it better to rest while it's hot out like this and then we can move when it's cooler?"

"Yeah but I don't feel good just pitching a tent out in the middle of nowhere," Al said with a sigh.

"Face it man," Russell said, letting his hands sink into the soft sand, "we're in the middle of absolutely nowhere. It's not like we're going to find a cave in the middle of the desert for us to hide in. We're just going to have to risk it."

Alphonse let out a long, hard sigh before he looked over the horizon and saw nothing but rolling hills of sand. He then dropped his pack on the ground.

"I guess you guys are right. Let's get the tent set up."

The canvas tent was the same color as the sand, making for some camouflage, but not enough to stifle Alphonse's worries. They opened the flap of the tent to allow in the very occasional breeze into the tent before they lay down on the ground. They all used their sleeping bags for pillows, not needing any extra warmth.

Alphonse pulled out a package of dried fruit and ate a few dried pears before taking another sip of water and closing his eyes. He was pretty tired…

_There were shouts and screams of many. People were running around franticly around the streets and explosions went off, one after another. Soldiers marched forwards in perfect lines towards the explosions while people run away from them. Suddenly, one of the faceless soldiers began to form into someone familiar. _

_ Edward._

_ He and the other soldiers began to fire at a large black cloud that formed over half of the ruined city. It began to swallow up the buildings, people, even the land and sky._

"_Run Ed!"_

_ The soldiers don't move as the cloud get's closer and closer. No matter how hard, Al screams, his brother refuses to move._

"_You have to move!"_

_ As the cloud sucks Edward in, he let's out a horrible, pain-filled scream that freezes Al's blood._

"Ed!"

Alphonse blots up from his place on the ground, panting like he had just run a mile and covered in sweat. It takes several seconds for him to remember where he is. Al turns his head and sees bother Russell and Fletcher, still sounds asleep.

The sun has gone down but Al has to assume it was recently, for the sand outside the tent is still burning hot.

"Guys, wake up," he said urgently as he's shaking them both awake. "We have to get moving."

It took several minutes for them to wake up and get everything back into order. The night air was still hot but it was considerably easier walking around than it was in the morning sun.

"Take some water and a bit of food and then let's get going," Al orders.

As he waits for Russell and Fletcher to get ready to go, he can't help but think about his dream, or rather, his nightmare.

_Edward's going to be just fine_, he thought. _He's a survivor. He doesn't give up. You'll see him again. Soon._

* * *

Edward's mouth opened wide in a horrible scream of pain. Several pairs of hands held him in place while Winry and another person went to work on his automail ports.

It was horrible. Worse than horrible. It was really like he was experiencing hell itself. Automail was attached to the nerves, which meant that attaching them to every nerve would be absolutely excruciating. Sure, there were anesthetics and other things that tried to numb the body, but they barley made a dent to Edward. The pain continually threatened to swallow him up and never let him go.

The operation was taking place in a separate room from where all the beds were. Ed appreciated this because even though right now he didn't really care who saw him cry and scream in pain at the moment, he was sure he'd feel a little embarrassed later. The less people who saw him, the better.

"Just a few more minutes, Ed," Winry said as she went to town on his right shoulder. "You just need to stop moving around so much."

A surprising thing happened when Winry began the surgery. She transformed into a completely different person. Sure, she still looked as tough as she usually did but she was definitely less snarky and sarcastic and was even gentle at times. She seemed to enter her own world where only she, Edward, and occasionally another helper lived.

Edward bit down on the rag wet rag that was placed in his mouth so that he wouldn't break any of his teeth in the process. Suddenly, a horrible jolt of pain from this left knee slammed him and he couldn't help but let out a horribly loud scream. The pain ran up his spin and it only amplified the pain in his shoulder.

Sweat poured down his forehead and the world was turning. Everything smelled of blood and oil and it made Edward's stomach churn. Winry advised him to not look at anything, to keep his eyes closed. At the beginning there was a cloth that covered his eyes but it had fallen off soon after the procedure began. His curiosity wanted him to look at what they were doing but his common sense told him that he would probably loose whatever food was in his stomach if he looked. From what he could hear, feel, and smell, whatever was being done to his shoulder was not pretty.

Something icy cold was being placed on his shoulder. It stung and alleviated some pain at the same time. Before he could even guess what it was, a horrible, terrible pain resonated near his collar bone; it felt like it was being snapped in half.

"We're almost done here, Ed" Winry said as he felt the same cooling sensation on his left leg. "You just need to keep this up for another minute or two. You're doing great."

He was? Because Ed was pretty sure he was screaming like a little girl and he knew that he had been crying since nearly the beginning of the procedure. And if he was doing great, this surgery was really something else.

"_AH!_" Edward cried out as two debilitating pains hit him and he suddenly didn't know if he could take a single second longer of this madness.

"And… we're just about done here," said a voice Edward couldn't recognize in his pain-filled haze.

Edward's heart was pounding painfully hard against his ribcage; he was afraid it would fail any moment now. He desperately needed water but he was too weak to even form the words to ask. Wet, slightly scratchy towels and rags had begun to gently wash over areas of his body. A cool breeze washed over him and it felt so good that he almost cried; he was just so _hot_.

People walked in and out of the room, or he assumed so since he heard the metal door open and close about twenty times now, voices talked to each other, the sound of rushing water filled his ears, only further increasing his thirst. It seemed everyone had forgotten he was even on the operating table with the way they were acting.

Slowly, very slowly, he felt himself drifting off into a drug induced sleep.

* * *

It was very dark in the room when Edward's eyes fluttered open. He had to assume it was hour's later, do to the stiffness in his joints and the rested feeling he was getting.

Pain hit his wounded body like a ton of bricks. A small cry of pain escaped his lips as his leg and shoulder throbbed with pain he had ever experience before. His heart rate began to increase and he heard himself cry out to someone for help. He just needed anything else to stop this pain!

"Oh, I'm sorry," said a kind, female voice. "I tried to get here before you'd run out but I guess I miscalculated."

Edward turned to his left and saw the outline of a woman as she moved around his I.V., presumably giving him more pain medicine. The outline of the face looked familiar to him.

"…Winry?" Edward asked in a rough, weak voice that he didn't recognize as his own.

A soft lamp came on to his left and the woman's face was illuminated. He could see within a seconds glance that it was not Winry.

"Oh, sorry. I'm Sara," she said with a warm smile. "I'm Winry's mother."

Edward took in the Sara's appearance. She had Winry's pale blond hair, round blue eyes, and similar facial structure. But Sara's face was a little rounder and her skin a little lighter and her hair was wavy while Winry's was straight.

Edward let out a small sigh as he felt the medicine go to work. He closed his eyes in relief and was about to fall back asleep when he noticed how bone dry his throat was.

"Water," he croaked.

Edward watched as Sara went to the corner of the room, ran the tap, and filled a glass with water. When she reached him, she helped him lift his head so that he could drink. The water felt amazing as it instantly began t rehydrate him.

"Whoa, take it easy," she said before she set the glass on the small metal tray next to them. "Do you need anything else?"

Edward was in the process of shaking his head when he noticed the shinning metal on his shoulder.

It took his breath away from a moment as he took it all in. The shiny, smooth metal was formed around his right shoulder. The overlapping plates looked both interesting and a little lethal. With much trepidation, Edward moved his left hand and gently probed the parts of the port. It was very cool to the touch and there was an intricate hole at the end where he assumed the arm would be attached. Looked down at his chest, he noticed clean white bandages wrapped around much of his chest.

"Do you like it?" Sara asked hesitantly, gauging his expression.

"…they look nice and tough," Edward said. "I like 'em so far."

"Automail is a wonderful thing. Once you survive the surgery that is."

"So are you saying I've gotten over the worst part?"

"Oh, probably. I should warn you, learning to use them is no cake walk."

"Yeah, you're daughter told me plenty of times," Edward mumbled. "When will I get my arm and leg?"

"It'll probably be a few days, maybe a week," Sara said, thinking. "We have to wait for your wounds to heal a little and we still need to finish crafting them."

"Oh, alright."

"Well, I think you should get some more rest. You'll need it for later."

Edward nodded and watched as Sara turned off the lamp and left the room quietly, leaving Edward alone with his thoughts.

He was one step closer to becoming as close to normal as he would ever be. Everyone kept telling him how hard it would be, to go through the surgery, the rehabilitation, but no one seemed to understand his determination. He would get back on his feet. He would keep moving. Nothing was going to get in his way.

* * *

**So, hopefully I will update again soon. As in within a month. :P**

**But next time, Ed should be having some fun learning how the hell to use his automail, Winry will probably hit him with something, and Al and they guys can begin to feel the effects to dehydration and sun poisoning. Yay! :P**

**Please review! Again, super sorry.**

**-FSK**


	21. Bitter Work

**Hello everyone. :)**

**I did promise you that I'd have this within a month so here it is. And it's extra long. And aren't bigger things usually better? *wink-wink nudge-nudge***

**So anyways, in this chapter, I had some fun torturing characters! :D Who doesn't love doing that every now and again?**

**But thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter and to my special editor, Dani. :D**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

Alphonse stared down into the opening of his canteen that he held in his hand. He gave it a half-hearted shake but knew there would be no sloshing of water inside. It was bone dry; same as almost every other canteen the three boys had brought. They only had two canteens that were less than half full each left.

He knew they should have brought more water and less food. What was the point in eating when you used more water while eating? Al had been trying his best to ration the water but somehow, the horrendous heat of the desert had gotten the better of him and he found himself and the others drinking at a constant rate. Which would be good if they didn't have a limited amount and no water source in sight.

It had been a week. A week! Judging by the stars and the maps they had brought, they were still some time away from the half-way mark. Who knew that the Great Desert had such an understated name?

Al stared up at the moon, his vision fuzzy for a moment, and became mystified by its bright, white light. He hadn't had a drink of water in hours and even though the night was significantly cooler than the day, it was still rather hot. Al needed water. He could feel that his body was in the beginning stages of dehydration: dry skin, loss of appetite, fatigue, and, of course, thirst.

He stopped and turned to look at Russell and Fletcher, who were trudging along a few feet behind them. They both held the last bits of water they owned but neither was drinking, even though it was clear both could use it. No one seemed to want to be the person to drink the last of the water, thereby signing their death sentence. But people can only go on for so long without water.

"Let's take a break," Al said, annoyed with how out of breath he sounded.

The other two all but drop to the ground where they stand. Al took a few steps back to them and sat down by the two other blonds. He could see that the two brothers were looking pretty bad and could only assume he would be in the same condition.

"We need water, guys," Al said in a commanding voice. "We can't go much further without it."

Fletcher quickly took a few small sips of his canteen before he passed it to Al, who took it appreciably. Al followed Fletcher's move and took tiny sips, not wanting to throw it all back up. Once he felt he had had enough water in his system to move on, Al pulled out some dried fruit from his pack and began eating a few pieces.

He was hungry, no, more than hungry, he was _ravenous_. But again, since eating took water from his body that he desperately needed at the moment, he had slowly been eating less and less. Al knew this would eventually catch up to him, when he had no water and no strength to process food, but a gamble was gamble. And willingly walking into the desert was easily the biggest gamble of any of their lives.

"You guys should eat something too you know," Al said through a mouthful of dried apple slices.

"I know," Russell said with a heavy sigh before he took off his pack and began rummaging through it until he pulled out something to eat. "Hey, Fletcher. You need to eat up."

Fletcher was lying, curled up on his side, seemingly asleep. By the position of the moon, Al had to guess that they had a few more hours until sunrise and they needed to cover as much ground as they could while it was cooler.

"Let him sleep for a minute," Al said, lying down in the sand. "We could all use a few minutes rest. He can eat while we move."

Alphonse felt his mind beginning to drift away into sleep but he kept forcing his eyes to open. He couldn't fall asleep out here in the open. They could be picked by buzzards, fried by the heat of the morning, the horrible possibilities were endless. After a few minutes of this, Al made himself sit up but even sitting up he felt sleep tugging on him. So he pulled his pack closer to him and dug out the small radio. Noise would help him stay awake. It took him a moment to find a station that came in but once he did, he set it on the ground and listened.

"… _A stray bomb from the Aerugan military has hit a small town in the southwest this evening. Causalities are estimated in the hundreds but there is no definite answer at the moment."_

Al moved to change to channel, not wanting to hear news stories about innocent children dying.

"… _Amestris forces managed to push back an oncoming battalion this morning. The battalion had passed by the Aerugan-Amestris border the night before and had unfortunately destroyed a number of towns before they could be stopped-"_

He changed the channel again.

"… _It is confirmed that the Aerugan military has obtained airplanes and are now using them as bomber planes."_

Al stared at the radio for a moment, unable to stop his mind from picturing Ed as a bomber plane files over him.

"_There have been a series of bombing at a number of camps near the front lines. Casualties are unknown as of right now but it could be anywhere in the thousands from what we have heard."_

Al closed his eyes and remembered some of the last words Edward had said to him.

_"Don't try and do something stupid to try and save me. No matter what you hear. Alright?"_

Al opened his eyes and glared at the radio. He was now regretting his decision to bring the radio. Sure, it helped him keep up with the news but what was the point when almost all of it was devoted to war that he was desperately trying to avoid?

_"Just promise me. I don't want you to get hurt or caught or killed because you wanted to go back for me. It's my job to protect my little brother and I won't do a good job if you go and get yourself killed."_

Listening to the radio only made it harder for him to obey his brother's last wish. How could he continue to run away like a coward while his brother was putting his life in the direct line of fire? Al switched off the radio and tossed it a little away from him, as if the image of it sitting there would bring back images of his imagined war.

"Come on," Al said loudly, giving Russell limp body a rough shake. "We have to keep moving. We can set up camp in an hour or so."

Al took one last sip of his canteen before he got up and began moving forwards, farther into the Great Desert.

* * *

"Come on, Goldie Locks," Winry barked as Edward hobbled around the small track. "I'm sure you could put more into it if you wanted!"

"I'm… _trying_," Edward panted through his gritted teeth.

It had been about a week since Edward's initial Automail surgery and only a few days since he had been given his two new limbs. They were _much_ heavier than regular flesh and every now and again, he would feel a painful tug on his still healing flesh due to the wait of them.

Four days ago, he had been attached with this arm and leg and had stayed in bed while he slowly gained control over his fingers and toes. It was rather tedious and annoying as he stayed in bed all day while people watched him wiggle his finger and toes for hours. At lunch, he had been instructed to only use his right arm but found it not only difficult, but painful. It seemed that every time he even _thought_ about using his left hand, Winry seemed to appear out of no where and swatted him for his thoughts of disobedience. But now, Edward was wishing he just had to wiggle his toes and master using a spoon; this was torture!

After the first day, Winry had taken them to another room down the hall from the medical room. It was just as big as the other but instead of rows of cots with wounded soldiers laying in them, there was exercise equipment: dumbbells, leg presses, barbells, and so much more. Surrounding all the equipment was a large oval painted on the floor in black paint. Edward was instructed to run laps around the track for as long as he could.

Unfortunately, whenever he stopped, Winry always barked remarks at him that made him have to run more just to shut her up. And by run, Edward meant hobbling as he practically dragged his heavy left leg.

On the first day, it had been excruciating to move his legs and Winry had allowed him to just walk slowly, but not until she thought he was done. The second day didn't start out much better but he had been able to make it a full two laps more before he felt he couldn't go on; which meant that he had to do another ten laps by Winry's standards. On the third day, he almost had something that might have resembled a jog but half way through his session, he could feel his skin on his left thigh tugging painfully at the strain and had to go back to walking, although his steps now looked more respectable. Now, on the fourth day, he was doing much better, but was exhausted.

Ed had managed a few good jogs around the track before he collapsed on the ground and then proceeded to cough up blood. He had been rather alarmed but Winry had informed him, while examining her oil-covered cuticles, that it was nothing to really worry about, that everyone did that, and then yelled him to keep going.

He had been hobbling around the track for almost an hour now, which was the longest amount of time he had been able to run, when Winry's mother, Sara, walked into the room. Edward stopped moving once Winry's attention was taken by her mother.

"It's time for lunch, honey," she said kindly. "You need to eat."

"I'm fine," Winry said a little stiffly before she turned her attention back to Edward. "I didn't say stop!"

Edward, surprised by Winry's shout, stumbled to start running and then fell flat on his face.

"Well that's what you get," Winry muttered. "Slacking on the job."

"Winry, don't you think you're pushing him too hard?" Sara asked as she eyed Edward pushing himself up from the ground and then proceeding to wipe his lips, which were stained with blood again.

"He doesn't need to be babied, mom," Winry said with a sigh before she turned to glare at Ed, who was hobbling past the two and shouted, "and he doesn't want to be babied, right, Squirt?"

"Right," Edward growled.

"But-"

"_Mom_, I've rehabilitated about twenty soldiers this year and I've learned that the best way is to be hard on them," Winry growled. "If they're babied, they take almost twice as long as the ones that I was hard on to gain full control."

Edward watched over his shoulder as Sara pursed her lips and narrowed her round eyes. Even from several yards away, Ed could see the slight recoil in Winry. He smiled gleefully before he almost tripped again and focused on his legs movements.

"Go down to the lunch room and eat. _Now_," Sara ordered, pointing to the door. "I'll watch over him for now."

"Fine," Winry muttered before she stalked out of the room. "But I don't want you to go all motherly on him!"

"Just go eat!"

As Edward looped around the track and moved back by Sara, Sara stood up and moved to the middle of the track, signaling for Ed to stop.

"Come on, sit down," she said, motioning to the wooden bench that was pressed against the wall. "Let's take a look at your knee."

Edward limped over to the bench and nearly collapsed from exhaustion. Sara sat a little away from him and patted her lap, meaning that she wanted him to prop up his leg.

With gentle fingers, Sara probed the bright red area around his automail port. Until yesterday, he had been wearing his bandages around his ports all the time but today, Winry had suggested taking them off, since he was sweating a lot during training and he'd need new bandages afterwards anyhow. It was a little grouse to see the slightly inflamed flesh as it connected with the metal that was now attached to his nerves. He hadn't quit made the connection that he really had lost his limbs and now would be using these metal ones for the rest of his life. Seeing the wound up close, however, seemed to help bring clarity to his still confused mind.

"Hmm, you really shouldn't be running on this," Sara muttered as she gave the red part a little push, earning an involuntary hiss from Ed.

Sara lifted his leg and gently set it on the ground.

"I_ really_ don't want you running on that right now," she said a little louder, staring intently at no point across the room. "it could tear and then you'd be in bed for a few more days and then Winry would be furious. But then again, the only person she should be mad at is with herself for pushing you too much."

"Yeah, what is with her?" Ed asked, feeling it was alright to ask such a question. "She really is a drill sergeant."

"I know she is," Sara said with a small smile, turning back to look at Ed. "But she means best. I know what she means when she says how we can't baby the patients but there's a line and she sure crossed it. At least for this early in your rehabilitation."

Sara's blue eyes wandered over to the stack of dumbbells that sat in one corner and her face instantly lit up.

"You haven't done much upper body workouts have you?"

It turns out that the line that Winry apparently crossed, well, it seemed to Edward that she only toed it in Sara's eyes once he had started her upper body work outs. Sure, she was kind in the beginning, but once he had gotten over the five pound waits without much hassle, she gave him the tens and made him do twenty curls with both before he could rest. By the time he was done, Winry had returned and was barking orders before she was even all the way in the room.

"He has to work on upper body too, Winry," Sara said in an attempt to placate her daughter.

"But what's the point of lifting things if he can't run?" Winry huffed with her hands on her hips.

"He knows how to walk but his ability to use his right hand is important as well," Sara said sternly, giving her daughter the same hard look from before.

"But I know what I'm-"

"_Winry_. He just needs a break for now," Sara said. "Tomorrow he can run but he won't be able to if he tears his skin form the ports. He's still _healing_."

Winry scrunched up her face in annoyance before she folded her arms across her chest, looking rather pissed off that she couldn't retaliate.

"Now, can you go check on one of the new patients?" Sara asked in a kinda but still stern voice. "He should be in bed twelve."

"Fine," Winry said with a growl before she stormed from the room.

"She used to be such a sweet girl…" Sara sighed softly, staring at the doors where her daughter had just exited from.

"I'm sure she was," Edward said, although he sounded more skeptical than serious.

Sara noticed his tone of voice and laughs lightly before turning back to him.

"I know what you mean but really she was. Unfortunately, I think some of the reason why she's like this is because of me and her father."

"What'cha mean?"

"Well, you know the Ishval Rebellion?" Sara asked, looking a little sad.

"Yeah."

The Ishval Rebellion has started when Edward was only two and had ended seven years later. There was hardly two years of piece before Amestris launched into its war with Aerugo. Some people say that Amestris cornered Aerugo because they had helped the Ishvalans during the previous.

"Well the last few years me and my husband left to help them there and there was absolutely no question about taking Winry, with her being so young. And then just when we returned and we all thought we'd be happy together, there's another war and me and my husband leave again."

Sara's face crumpled a little with sadness but she kept going.

"Winry wasn't happy. You can understand. She was older and understood more how dangerous it all was. I guess it can be hard growing up without really ever seeing your parents or not knowing them really well."

"It is hard," Edward said gravely; Sara seemed to understand what he meant within a second.

"Who went?"

"Well my dad left to go help some scientists in Central," Edward sighed heavily. "And my mom… there was a stray bomb near the beginning."

"Oh, my. I'm so sorry."

Edward shrugged, surprised that he felt a little better.

"How old were you?"

"Ten when my mom got killed. Eleven when my dad was sent away. I had to pretty much take care of me and my little brother."

Sara looked close to tears now.

"It wasn't that bad," Ed said with a shrug, not wanting to worry the woman for some reason. "The town kinda watched over us. Helped us out. Our dad sent us his paychecks every month so it's not like we had to work."

"Where is your father?"

"Don't know. Somewhere in Central maybe. I haven't seen or heard from him since he left."

There was silence between them for a while as they stared at the floor, across the room, at the weights, nothing really in particular. Finally, Sara spoke.

"You two are really similar."

"What?"

"You are. In many ways. I think if Winry ever gets over her drill sergeant stage with you, you two could get along."

"Fat chance," Ed muttered. "We're practically complete opposites."

Sara laughed.

"Opposites attract, you know," she said with a smile.

"Yeah right. Whoever came up with the saying obviously had never had any friends or never dated."

"Well I don't know about that saying but I know a few that really seem to stick with the truth."

Edward turned to look at Sara again, intrigued.

"When I was in Ishval, I was treating this one Ishvalan who always seemed to have one deep meaning after the other coming from his mouth. He was really wiser beyond his years."

"What was his name?"

She shrugged.

"I don't know. We weren't really organized enough near the end to find out his name and he never gave it."

Sara stared down at her folded, pale hands that rested on her lap. A small crinkle formed on her forehead as she concentrated on something in her mind.

"There was this one saying he always said near the end. When the war had ended and we were helping patients for a few more days, he practically said it every day to everyone. He kept saying the peace wouldn't last."

"Well he was right wasn't he," Ed scoffed. "What was the saying?"

"I'm trying to remember… I feel foolish for forgetting it now when I probably heard it a hundred times before. Hmm … I think it was something like 'there will always be the never-ending circle of hate as long as man is alive'. But I know there was more."

Sara continued to mutter to herself for a few minutes, while she tried to come up with the correct wording. Edward didn't rush her. He wasn't that interesting in what the saying really was but if it was important to her…

"I got it," Sara declared happily. "It was, 'There will always be the perpetual circle of hate as long as man is alive, for its man's nature. Thus we create perpetual conflict from this nature and a perpetual war is created'."

"Hmm…" Edward muttered. "Interesting."

"He was an odd man," Sara said. "I wonder what happened to him."

* * *

Edward went to bed later, very soar and very tired. He had barely enough energy to scarf down his meal before he fell asleep. Since he was still healing, they still placed him in the infirmary. Not something he particularly enjoyed since there were always moans and cries from the wounded and healing, but he didn't want to make too much of a fuss. These people had given him mobility and the closest thing to normalcy he'd ever have again; he could really complain.

But as Ed and the many other people hidden underground were starting to go to sleep, terrible things were happening only a few yards from the ceiling of their safe house.

Troops were marching and screaming. Guns were being fired at opposing Aerugan soldiers and those who weren't hit were firing back at Amestrains. Bomb after bomb was being dropped from the air on Amestrains and cannons were firing bombs back at the Aerugan forces. A war was taking place right over a hundred peoples heads and they were all trapped.

* * *

**Next chapter, there will be more suffering. *evil smile* Much more. So get ready.**

**So yeah, Al and his friends are slowly dieing of thirst and Ed... well who knows what'll happen next for him. I do know, but you don't. :P Feel free to guess.**

**I will try to have the next chapter up sooner that this one took to get up here and please send me a review. It makes me really happy to make that little review total go up and up!**

**Bye,**

**-FSK**


	22. From Bad to Worse

**Hello everyone! I'm actually updating regularly now. :D**

**Thanks so much for all the reviews last chapter and thanks to Dani for looking over everything for me, once again. :) You're awesome, Dani! :D**

**So this chapter, things are going to start getting crazy and I mean it. *evil grin* Hope you all like it!**

* * *

Noise. There was just too much noise for Edward's liking as he rolled over in his cot, hissing slightly at the sting he got in his left port. Why was there so much noise? Wasn't it nighttime? And who cared if a bunch of people just came in to get fixed with automail, there were healing people trying to sleep, damn it!

"Wake up," someone hissed in his ear as he was given a slight shake.

Edward had the vague memory of lifting up his right hand and waving the person off while mumbling something unintelligible.

"Fucking. Wake. _Up_!" someone yelled as they violently shook him awake.

"Ah! What?" Edward cried, rolling over and forcing his eyes open until he was able to focus and see the blond hair, the blue eyes, and the hard expression. It was Winry.

"Oh, it's you," he grumbled, unaware of anything that was going on around him. "Listen, didn't your mom tell you not to overwork me? Now I've barely gotten any sleep-"

"You fucking idiot! Do you not see what's going on here?" Winry cried, her face looking a little panicked.

Edward blinked his eyes a few times, still trying to clear out the sleep from them before he looked around the room and took in the sights.

It was utter pandemonium.

People were just running around like crazy as they yelled things at each other in passing. Doctors and nurses and other volunteers were seen helping patients up from their beds and taking them out of the room in any means necessary. A few patients were being pushed out in rusty wheelchairs while others were being carried out by the stronger of the helpers. In the background of all the shouting and yelling and scuffling to leave the room as fast as they could, Edward noticed the shrill whine of a siren. Something was happening and it definitely wasn't good.

"W-what's going on?" Ed asked shakily, eyes wide in fear.

"Aerugans!" Winry yelled over the mess. "They've beaten back our army and dad thinks they might use this old shelter as base again so we have to high-tail-it out of here, _right now_!"

"But…" Ed trailed off, not quite sure what was happening.

"Stop lying there like a fish on land and get up!" Winry ordered but it lacked its usual bite. It took Ed a moment to realize that there was actual fear in her voice, and it was quickly dominating her emotions.

Winry bent over and rummaged on the floor for a moment before she stood back up and threw a few articles of clothing at him.

"Put these on!" she ordered franticly before she threw a heavy camouflaged pack onto him. "And take this too. Hurry up!"

She then ran off to help other patients, leaving Ed in his slightly confused state. He swung his legs over the side of the cot and sat the large pack on the floor while he inspected the clothing: black tank-top, a heavy camouflaged jacket and pants that looked to be military issue, and a pair of heavy black boots that were his size along with a sturdy pair of white socks. Not carrying in the least about modesty, Ed ripped of his hospital-like shirt and pants and pulled on the shirt and pants. He ripped on the socks, quickly laced up the boots, -his metal fingers fumbling slightly at this task- before he pulled on his jacket that was slightly too big for him.

Not knowing what else to do, Ed rummaged in his pack and saw similar things he had ordered Al to put in his own pack. There were tons of non-perishable foods, a small first aide kit, a half-gallon container of water filled to the brim along with some iodine to help purify any unclean water, sunscreen, a flashlight, and a thin black sleeping bag. They were going somewhere.

"Mom?" Edward heard Winry cry from nearby. He looked up to see a very frazzled Sara running towards Winry. Behind her was a man who Ed thought was her husband.

"Winry!" yelled the man. "You have to get out of here right now! The Aerugans have found the door and are coming in. We've managed to bolt a few doors close by but who knows how long it'll take for them to get through."

"But dad, I'm not leaving without you guys," Winry cried, looking unusually close to tears.

"You don't have a choice, Winry," he yelled. "You have to take some of the more able-bodied and run."

"But-!"

"No buts, Winry. This isn't the time for this! Just go!" Sara yelled before she hugged her daughter tightly.

"Listen to your mother," her father yelled over the loud noises, also hugging Winry tightly.

Edward turned away, feeling intrusive on the family moment, and stared at the other scenes that were happening. The front door had been closed off but there seemed to be another door that people were now escaping through. He wondered if he should start running through the door but didn't know what to do. A hard yank on his shirt broke him out of his thoughts.

"Come on!" Winry ordered. "We're going."

"Right."

As he followed the blond, Ed couldn't help but notice that her blue eyes were rimmed red and slightly bloodshot and that she appeared to be sniffling every few seconds. It was odd to see such a strong and hot-headed person become suddenly fragile. He was sure if he pointed it out, she would leave him here for dead without a second thought, so he kept his mouth shut as he followed her through the dark passage way.

He had no idea where they were going but hoped that someone did. If he was brought up onto the surface near the camp and someone saw him as able-bodied… well, they might just snatch him up and send him back to the front lines.

But when they finally reached the end of the passage way and climbed up the metal ladder to the surface, Edward found that he was far from all of the death and destruction of the front lines. The noises were still there of course, but muted slightly by distance.

"Let's get moving," Winry said as she shifted her heavy pack on her thin shoulders. "We can only stand out here like ducks for so long."

Edward nodded as he begun to follow Winry.

"I bet you're glad I pushed you to be able to use that leg now, huh?" she asked snidely.

Edward chose to ignore her.

"We need to head south-west," Winry muttered as her gaze shifted between a metal compass she held in her hands and the stars.

"Why?" Ed asked a little breathlessly. "Wouldn't it be safest for us to head up north were there's _no_ fighting?"

"No," Winry said sternly. "We thought of this happening before. We set up a rendezvous point near the Cretian-Aerugan border. It's a safe place."

"Are you sure?" Ed asked a little skeptically, not really in the mood hopping borders illegally and running around on a leg he could just barely stand on.

"Yes. And besides, what would happen if you got caught by the Amestrain police, huh?" she asked with a smile. "Unless you'd rather we just give you a nice little girl costume and then we can go hide up north."

"… _Fine._"

"Good, let's get moving."

"Whatever," Ed huffed.

Just as Ed was about to follow Winry into the dark night, a panicked voice rang out and forced Ed to stop.

"What was that?" he asked, looking behind him.

"What?" Winry asked, turning around.

"I heard someone…"

"Quit stalling! Just come on!"

There was another yell, except this time, Winry heard it as well. Her demeanor seemed to change instantly at the sound, changing from annoyed and slightly hostile to alert and curious. Without another word, Winry began moving swiftly towards the noise, leaving Ed in the dust as he tried to catch up on his bad leg.

"Wait up!" Ed hissed as he stumbled after her.

"Help!" a male voice cried. "Someone, we need help!"

"We're coming!" Winry cried.

"What are you doing?" Ed yelled, annoyed.

Winry spend forwards at the sight of the two on the ground. She skidded on the gravely ground but managed to stop before she collided when either of the two. Ed tried his best to drag his heavy leg but it took him almost a minute to move the same distance it took Winry to run in half that time.

"What's going on?" Ed huffed once he finally reached them.

It was dark, but he could still make out most of what was going on beneath him. Winry was crouched down by a person, probably a girl but Ed couldn't really tell that well in the dark, who was lying down on the ground and was panting heavily. A boy, he was probably close to Ed's age by the sound of his voice, was yelling jumbled, frantic words to Winry in a thick accent that made it hard to understand.

"She's hurt! She's hurt we need help!" the boy cried.

"It's fine, it's fine. I can help," Winry said calmly as she rifled through her bag as she quickly switched to her other, more caring and calm self that Ed saw occasionally when she worked on frantic patients back down in the bunker.

"But-!"

"Relax," Winry said as she pulled out something white from the pack. "Now, can you tell me your name?"

The boy nodded but seemed too focused on his friend to answer. It was now that Ed realized that the ground around the person's left shoulder was darker than the rest. Whoever they were, they were bleeding.

"Hey," Winry said with a snap of her fingers as she quickly began ripping at the fabric around the person's shoulder with the other. "What's your friend's name then?"

Edward could see it in his dark eyes that the boy was scared for his friend but he let out a shaky breath before he uttered nine words.

"My name is Ling Yao. Please save Lan Fan."

* * *

Alphonse took a shaky step forwards, much against his body's will to just collapse and give up. But he couldn't stop. If he stopped, he might not get back up again for he was so exhausted. Exhausted _and_ thirsty. Oh, how he would do just about anything right now for a sip of ice cold water. Any water really, since the last of their precious water had been drunk a few hours ago and even then, there had only been a sip to each boy. They were all thirsty, exhausted, and at the end of their rope.

_Who were we kidding_, Al thought miserably as he stared up at the dark sky. _How were we ever supposed to cross the desert? We packed so much water and yet we can't even make it to the half-way point._

Al looked over his shoulder and stared at the two shuffling figures for a moment. He could see that his two friends were not bettering much more than Al was. Russell probably hadn't had his thirst for water quenched since before they entered the desert and Al had never seen his friend look so weak. He was panting hard as if he had just run a marathon and even though he was hot, there was no sweat. His body had no water to spare. Poor Fletcher didn't look like he could move much farther. He was leaning heavily on Russell and he swayed heavily with each step. Russell had been giving his younger brother most of his share of water before they had run out but it seemed the heat just affected the smaller boy more.

They needed to find water and soon.

Al fumbled around in his pack as he looked for one of is many maps.

_Why did we bring so much useless shit? I could have fit another half-gallon of water in here if it weren't for all these damn maps._

Once he found the correct one, he pulled it out and stared at it. His vision was a little hazy so it took Al a moment longer than it should have to locate what he was looking for on the map. The halfway point. Al glanced up at the stars again and tried to estimate how long it should be.

Al guessed that it should only take them another day to reach the point, but looking back at his friends and taking in how weak he felt, he didn't know if they would make it.

He turned his dejected stare down to the light sand and glared at it.

_So this is where and how we're going to die…_ Al thought, feeling his will slip away from him quickly. _Here in this empty, hot desert with no one but ourselves. There will probably only be out skeletons left._

Al's feet shuffled to a halt before he let his body collapse on the soft sand. He heard his friend's voices but he didn't care… he honestly didn't anymore. He just wanted to lie down, close his eyes, and give up.

_I'm sorry, brother. I'm so sorry. I guess I'm just not as strong as you are._

* * *

Alphonse woke up to a hard jab in the side. He grunted and rolled over, not wanting to wake up and have to face the reality that they were going to die in this place and it was all his fault.

"Wake up, boy!" growled a rough, male voice. "You're days of runnin' like a coward are over!"

_Huh?_

Al forced one eye open. The first thing he noticed was that he was lying in the tent. The others must had put it up and dragged him inside when he collapsed earlier. The next thing he noticed was the large man who stood over him and then he noticed the rifle that was pointed at his stomach.

He shot up, panicked. Russell and Fletcher weren't in the tent and he could here more voices from outside. One was clearly Russell, as he yelled at someone to get their hands off of Fletcher. Al then redirected his focus to the man who was standing over him. He was dressed similar to how a police officer was dressed but he wore an expression Al had never seen on an officer's face before: cruel happiness.

"What?" Al asked quietly, noting how horribly dry his throat felt.

"You heard me," the man growled. "We spotted you and your little friends from the base. You ain't runnin' no more. We got you."

His heart sank. They were caught…

"W-what base?" he stuttered out for reasons he didn't understand.

"The one at the half-way point," he said with a smile. "You honestly thought the police wouldn't be monitoring it since we got the draft started? Boy, you sure are dumb."

Al agreed with him there. He sure felt dumb. Dumb for nearly killing his friends. Dumb for not trying to convince or even tricking his brother into running with them. Dumb for not thinking of how of course the military would know that men would be running through the desert to escape the war. But then again, they weren't men either. They were three, scared little boys running away from things they weren't brave enough to face.

"We got yer little buddies rounded up outside. We're gonna put you in the truck, drive you all the way back and then throw you out on the front lines," he said with a horrible grin. "You'll be lucky to last a day with the way things have been heating up out there."

If possible, Al's heart sunk even further as he thought of his brother and how he didn't even know if he was still alive or not. It was painful to think of how life would be with Ed Elric dead and buried.

"Come on," he ordered with a grunt as he jabbed Al again in the gut. "If you don't come peacefully, you won't have to worry about some damn Aerugans killin' ya. Cuz' I'll do it myself."

* * *

**Dun-dun- duuuun. Yeah, Al's screwed. And who knows what's gonna happen to Ed and his new companions?**

**On a completely different note, did anyone watch the Royal Wedding Friday? Because I actually woke up at freaking five in the morning to watch it. And then I was delirous during school and it was hilarious. XD**

**But, please send me a review and I'm pretty sure I'll update again really soon... no promises though. :)**

**-FSK**


	23. Change of Plans

**Hellos people! :D Thanks for the reviews from last chapter and I'm sorry this took so long. Dumb school... I just want to know why when everyone's brain is shutting off that every stinking teacher has to give us some humongous project. Seriously, it pisses me off. But whatever...**

**So, yeah, my brain's not working right now from sleep deprivation and I can't think of anything more important to say.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

"Get in the truck," grunted the officer as he waved his rife towards the back of the open truck. "Nowhere to run."

And it was true. There really was nowhere to go. Not unless you wanted to get shot that is. The officers surrounded Alphonse, Russell, and Fletcher as they slowly moved towards the truck, their hands tied behind their backs. The truck would take them to the nearest military base and then… then they'd be given a quick round of boot camp before being sent to war. The thought of failing this mission, failing _Ed_, made Al's heart crumble.

Two men stood at the back of the truck, helping them into the truck as their hands were tied behind their backs. The large man who 'helped' Al inside nearly threw him inside. Once inside the truck away closer into the shaded area, he noticed someone was inside it as well. He couldn't see their face but he heard whispers that could only belong to a girl or a very young boy. Seeing the long, dark hair only made his thought of it being a girl stronger.

"Come on," a man grumbled before he threw Fletcher into the truck. "We have to get going."

The end slammed shut but the captives could still see as the door only came up to half the height of the van. Al winced slightly as their items were all thrown just as carelessly as their bodies had been into the truck with them. The rattle of the empty water bottles made Al's throat feel, if possible, drier.

"Heh, enjoy the ride, cowards," laughed a large man before he disappeared from sight.

After a moment, the truck began to start up and move in the opposite of their desired direction. Once they heard the voices of the other men begin to talk, Al spoke up.

"I'm sorry guys," he sighed.

"Why?" Russell asked. "It's not your fault."

"You didn't tip off anyone to come capture us," Fletcher said.

"Yeah but… me and Ed pushed the idea of running away to Xing when we should have thought of going somewhere less…_ obvious_. It's my fault."

Al hung his head in shame and just waited for the blame, for the fault to fall directly onto his shoulders. But it never did. Instead, he felt a tap on his foot from another foot and heard continual words on how it was not his fault and how they would think of a way out of this all, and how in a few days, they'd be laughing about it all.

Al could only hope that they were right and that they wouldn't be sent to the battlefield, defying Ed's last wish.

* * *

"Ed, pass me the gauze," Winry commanded as she compressed the dark wound on the young women's shoulder. "Ling, can you please try and hold her down more? Thank you."

Edward and Winry had found the duo a few yards away from where the secret exit led out. The girl the boy Ling called Lan Fan had been hit by something, no one was sure what, but she was bleeding heavily. Winry thankfully seemed to be armed with a portable hospital in her pack and was working quickly to help the poor girl.

She had been working on the wound for several minutes now and all Edward could do was sit back and help occasionally when Winry needed him to grab something for her. He hated feeling basically helpless but he knew that if he tried to intervene, he would only proceed to fuck things up. Al always said he had no capabilities when it came to healing someone whether it be physical or emotional.

"Okay, Lan Fan, this will hurt a bit but I think I'll be done soon after it, alright?"

The pale girl nodded while she gritted her teeth. Lan Fan, had been rather cooperative during the whole ordeal. Ling stood back and mirrored Ed, occasionally helping Winry but usually just staying out of the way.

"_Aghhh_!" cried Lan Fan as Winry went at the wound with some tweezers.

"I'm sorry," she muttered without stopping whatever she was doing. "Let me just clean this. Ed, hand my bag over to me."

"Er, right."

Edward picked up her heavy bag and handed to her. Winry riffled through the bag with one hand as she held a compress on the wound with the other; her eyes hardly ever leaving the girl. Out of the bag, she pulled out a clear bottle and a syringe; Ed outwardly cringed at the sight of the needle.

"Alright," she mumbled as she filled the syringe with the liquid. Winry then injected the girl with the needle and her body visibly relaxed.

"What did you give her?" Ed muttered.

"A mild sedative. She'll be out for a few minutes but then we should be able to move her," Winry said, wiping her brow. "I didn't want to have to use it but I thought it would be best. We'll have to wait while here a while."

"I can carry her," Ling spoke up. "We don't have to wait until she wake up."

Winry glanced at him for a moment before she nodded and proceeded to pull something from her pack again. This time it was a needle and a spool of dark thread. Ed turned away from the scene, knowing what she was going to do and knew how it would only bother him to watch. A few minutes later, her turned back around and watched as Winry wrapped bandages around the sealed wound.

"Now are you sure you can carry her, Ling?" Winry asked as she put her medical supplies back into her pack.

"Yes."

"Well then, we should be moving."

"Um, where are you two going anyhow?" Ed asked after a moment. He didn't remember any mention of where they were headed.

"Anywhere that's not Xing or Amestris," he said gravely as he hefted the girl over his shoulder.

* * *

They had been traveling for about two hours now and the sun had finally begun to rise over the hot desert. The canvas cover of the truck helped some to block out the intense heat but they were all still sweating heavily. And hour ago, one of the men had tossed back a few water bottles for them; the water was gone within a few minutes.

Now, Alphonse stared around the back of the truck as he tried to block out his worrying thoughts. Fletcher was passed out on the floor with Russell sitting at his side, watching over him like a hawk. The girl, who had not spoken a word or even shown her face, was still curled up in the corner, occasionally mumbling to herself. Al has to wonder is she was crazy or something. Heat did do bad things to you if you were out in it too long.

Suddenly, the truck shuddered to a stop. Al felt an odd combination of hope and fear. Hope because maybe somehow, they could find a way out of this. And fear because, well, anything could happen now.

One of the men came around to the back but only his head and upper torso could be seen do to the closed door. His evilly happy grin made Al's stomach twist slightly. Whatever was happening wasn't good.

"Just thought that we should inform you of a change of plans, kiddies."

"What?" Russell asked.

"Are we going somewhere else?" Al asked.

"We got word from our boss that you'd be of better use in Central."

"Wait, why?" Russell asked.

"Is there not enough room at the eastern boot camp?" Al asked.

"Nope. There's still some room for a few more cowards." The man spat into the end of the truck. "But there's even more room in Central."

"What's in Central?" Al asked quietly.

"Oh nothing. Just a nice lab that's fresh out of rats."

The man then began laughing loudly before he returned to the front of the truck, leaving the others to slowly understand what he meant.

* * *

"So there's a war going on in Xing as well?" Ed asked as the three people moved along the desolate ground.

"Yes and that is why me and Lan Fan had to leave. We were in trouble," Ling said clearly as he effortlessly carried his companion.

"Why were you in trouble?" Winry asked. "Was the war going on in an area close to you?"

"Well, yes and no. You see, there is a civil war going on in our country. A little more than a year ago, our emperor fell deathly ill and he said whichever one of his children found him a cure, would become the next ruler."

"And this concerns you how?" Ed asked grumpily.

"Well I am one of his children," Ling said with a wry grin.

Winry and Ed both stopped dead in their tracks and stared at Ling, mouths hanging wide open.

"_You're _a_ prince_?" Winry asked.

"You sure don't look like one," Ed said.

And it was true. With his dirty and worn cloths and less than regal attitude, the teen didn't scream royalty.

"Well I am. I'm the 12th son. My father has forty-three children in all."

"What?"

"Let me explain," Ling said, still smiling his wolfish grin.

So Ling explained how in each clan of Xing, there was a prince or princess, a child made from one of the kings concubines. Or at least there should be as there are fifty clans and only forty-three heirs. Ling said how he was the heir of the Yao clan and that Lan Fan was part of his clan too and was also his body guard. It turns out being royalty was hard when there was always someone who was trying to bump you off.

"That's… kinda crazy," Ed said with a nod.

"Yes but that's not even the worst of it."

"What's worse?" Winry asked.

"Well you see, a few months ago, the emperor died and a huge power struggle began. He had never designated an heir so every clan was fighting over who should become the next emperor. Whatever clan the emperor was from usually gets the best treatment afterwards so you can understand why people would fight so hard for it.

"But then the fighting escalated into a full blown war with almost every clan fighting another. And even more and more assassins from other clans began attacking the heirs."

"So that's why you left," Winry said.

"Yes. I had to," Ling said heavily with a nod. "It was the safest way for my clan to still have a chance. But unfortunately, we have little news of what goes on in other countries. If we had known that Amestris was at war, we would have gone somewhere else."

"Yeah well, you should just assume that Amestris is always at war with someone," Ed sighed.

"That is pretty true," Winry nodded.

"But where are you two going anyhow?" Ling asked as he adjusted Lan Fan slightly.

"To a safe point near the Cretian-Aerugan border," Winry informed him. "From there, I don't know. But you're welcome to join us if you want. I really don't have any concerns with the affairs of Xing. You're welcome to go wherever you want."

"Um, thank you. We will come with you, as long as it's safe," Ling said, looking uncertain with Winry's harsh tone.

"I never said it'd be safe," she said with a grin.

Ling paused for a moment while Winry marched further ahead. Ed walked up to him and stopped next to him.

"She's a rather off woman."

"Get used to it, squinty," Ed said with a sigh before he patted him on the shoulder.

"Hey! Are you two having a tea party back there?" Winry cried from about fifteen feet ahead. "I don't care if you get left out here but if you want to come with me, you better pick up the pace!"

Ling and Ed begun running after her as fast as they could.

* * *

**So next chapter there will be more Mei action and there will be more others stuffs too... so tired.**

**Oh and if you gots the time, please stop this person's thingy and answer her poll question: GingerCakes.**

**Um, please send me a review and hopefully I will be able to update again soon. :)**

**-FSK**


	24. Fight

**Hello everybody! I'm on summer break! And I didn't have to take finals and got out three days earlier! :D**

**Sorry if this took long but seriously, last two weeks of school were horrendous and I had shit to do all the time. It was like torture.**

**Okay, bitching time. I completely hate all the changes ffnet did to the site. I hate the new messaging system, I hate the new set up they made up, and it all pisses me off. Yeah, it sucks. Grrr...**

**Thank you for everyone who reviewed last chapter and thank you to my lovely assistant Dani for her editing help. :)**

**Oh, and a little warning before you start reading: Winry will be rather bitchy this chapter. Like, a mega-bitch. BUT she has a _completely legitimated_ reason for it which will be explained NEXT chapter so don't be all Winry bashing on me. Well... alright you can bash but just know that theirs a reason for it.**

**So yeah, enjoy.**

* * *

"We need… to… stop," Ed panted a few hours later.

The group had left the battlefield long behind after walking for a few hours. The beaten down grass had made way to green foliage and now they were in the beginnings of what Ed could only describe as a jungle. He knew they would be making much more ground if it weren't for the fact that he could hardly walk for more than thirty minutes before feeling the pain in his leg; he could only walk an hour before he couldn't stand the pain anymore. Unfortunately for Winry, she didn't seemed to realize or care that he was lugging around twenty extra pounds of metal that was slowly heating up in the morning sun.

"We_ just _stopped," Winry growled, keeping her pace, leaving Ed in her tracks.

Ling and the now conscious Lan Fan glanced at Edward, who was panting heavily and covered in sweat, before looking at Winry, who was now a good ten feet in front of the three.

"Winry," Ling said loudly. "I do think you should stop. He needs his rest. We all could use a rest."

Winry stopped her walking before she spun around and glared at all of them. She then tossed her pack to the ground, creating a loud 'clunk', before she stomped back to them.

"If you guys want to make it to the safe house before New Years, I suggest we pick up the pace, not slow down."

"He can't help it. He just had surgery. He needs rest," Ling said, having been told of Ed's rather recent surgery. "You're a doctor. You must-"

Winry cut him off with a loud, almost heartless sounding laugh.

"Hey listen kid, first thing you should know about me is that I ain't no stinking doctor. I'm an _engineer_," Winry brought her face close to Ling's and jabbed him in the chest with one of her pointer fingers. "And there is a _big_ difference between those two professions."

"Well do you not even have any compassion for him on a human level?" Lan Fan asked, rubbing her left shoulder. "Surely even _engineers _have hearts."

Winry turned to Lan Fan. Her lips twisted in the smallest of smiles but with her eyes still harsh, the smile made her look slightly deranged.

"If all engineers are like her, then no, they don't have hearts," Ed said, slowly gaining his breath back. "I haven't seen an ounce of actual human compassion in you and it's just now occurring to me that I don't need to be killing myself to follow you. Why should I?"

"Because I gave you a leg to stand on!" Winry yelled, glaring wildly at him. "So be grateful, dammit! Without me, you'd still be sniveling on your cot back at camp!"

"Did you really?" Ed asked, limping closer to Winry until he was a foot away from her and practically eye to eye. "Did you personally do everything to give me the leg? Did you make every single design and craft the leg yourself?"

Winry kept her face impassive for a moment before her face broke out into a triumphant, if not cocky, smile.

"Yes. I _did._ Every. Single. One of them. I design them _all_. They all take time and effort, little boy. Effort that I fear I wasted_ completely _on_ you._"

Ed blinked, surprised. That new piece of information did take some wind from his sail but he kept at it.

"Well it's not like it was up to you if got automail or not!" Ed yelled. "I heard your parents talk and they clearly knew that I could get automail and they could have taken me down there or could have had someone take me there! It's not all up to you! You didn't have to come and save me!"

Winry clenched down on her jaw and began grinding her teeth.

"And if you were _so damn busy_ with your fucking designs, why did you waste your time coming to get me? Huh?"

"I got you because -" Winry started, looking a little put on the spot.

"Because why?" Ed cut in.

"I'm trying to tell you, you fucking little runt! So shut the hell up!" Winry screamed right in Ed's face.

Edward closed his mouth and crossed his miss-matched arms across his chest, staring at the fuming girl.

"I'm waiting," he said with a hint of a smile.

"_UGH!_ I did it because like I said, you looked so damn pitiful! It was out of _pity_, you dumbass! _Pity!_"

Winry stomped back to her pack and began ripping out things right and left while she screamed.

"Fine! Fine! Take your fucking break! Enjoy it! Because once you really start to heal! Oh, boy, you're gonna regret ever pissing me off! That's for sure! So drink you water! Rub your achy muscles! Do whatever! I don't care!"

Winry then grabbed several items from her bag before she turned and began running through the thick plants of the forest. Within a few seconds, he ranting and ravings had disappeared.

"Do you think she's leaving us?" Lan Fan asked as she sat down and leaned against a tree.

"No. She left most of her bags behind," Ling said.

"I hope she fucking gets lost," Ed snarled into his water bottle. "That bitch is the definition of crazy."

"Well she's right, we should be grateful," Ling said. "Without her, who knows what would have happened to Lan Fan."

"Yeah, I get it. I'm grateful for the arm and the leg! It's not like I'm not," Ed growled in frustration. "It's just that I expected some sort of compassion or empathy in return! She's nuts!"

* * *

Alphonse curled up on the floor of the truck, trying his best to sleep. He was exhausted and he knew that if there was nothing he could do at the moment, he could always try and sleep and hope for an idea to come to him in his dreams, even though that sounded ludicrous.

_We…are going to be experimented on,_ Al thought miserably as he stared across the truck bed. _And we will probably die from it._

Al closed his eyes and tried not to think of all the possibilities that could happen to them. After a minute, the thoughts did leave him but only to replaced by the thought of Ed finding out what had happened to them. He could picture it out so clearly in his head that it made his heart hurt and his stomach clench.

_I can see it… he'd come home once the war ended, he'd be happy that he actually survived. And then he would find out that none of us were there… and then he'd find out that we had all died. Never even got to safety…_

The image of it all in Al's head made him want to cry. Ed didn't deserve to be in that much pain, not after everything he had been through.

_Well we don't deserve to be used as lab rats either._

Al let out a long, loud sigh before he opened his eyes again. Russell and Fletcher were lying in similar states as him, no one was talking. Al was fine with the silence; he didn't fell up to hearing anymore escape plans. They had already botched up one.

Just as Al had resigned himself to try and sleep, he felt it. He didn't know how he felt it, but he just did. It was the incalculable weight of another persons eyes on another. Cautiously, Al turned his head just in time to see the small girl turn her head away from him.

Quickly, he glanced up at the small opening that lead to the front of the truck and saw that none of the men were paying them any attention. Quietly as possible, Al sat up and turned towards the girl.

"Hey," Al whispered.

The girl seemed to ignore him for a moment before she turned shyly towards him. Al could just make out part of her face, her large dark eyes and part of a slightly flushed face. Al did his best to move closer to her without making much noise; he didn't want to alert any of the men up front.

"Hey," Al repeated, a little quieter than before.

"…hello," she spoke softly in a higher voice.

"What's your name?" Al asked.

"Mei. Mei Chang," Mei said quietly, averting her eyes from him.

"I'm Alphonse Elric," Al said with a tiny smile. "You can call me Al, though."

Mei nodded before she buried her face in her knees, which were pulled up to her chest. Al stared at her for a moment and tried to gauge her age. She was rather small but because of her voice, Al had to assume she was only a little younger than them; maybe she fourteen or fifteen years old. It was still a little young to be running away by yourself but not impossible.

Al moved his foot and nudged her own with his, waiting for her to turn back to him or respond in some way. Again, she seemed to wait a moment before she turned back to him, face still half buried in her knees.

"Yes?" she asked hesitantly.

"So… why are you here?" he asked.

"Um…I left Xing for s-safety purposes," Mei mumbled into her knees.

Al stared at the small girl for a moment, slightly confused by her shy and hesitant demeanor. Maybe it was because of the men in the front or maybe she was exhausted and just was a little out of it, he didn't really know.

_And what could be safe about trying to cross a relentless desert? _Al wondered.

Al was just about to ask her this but was cut off by one of the men telling them to shut up and be quiet.

_I'll just have to ask her later_, Al thought as he slid back a little to his original spot_. We have plenty of time to kill until we reach Central._

* * *

"So Ling, why were you guys in the area anyhow?" Ed asked a while later as they sat in a semi-circle eating. Winry had still not yet returned from wherever she had went to. "I mean, yeah it might have been dangerous to go through the middle of Amestris but it would have been a lot easier than going through a war zone."

"We had no choice," Ling said. "It's not like we meant to go there. The train had switched lines or something."

"What do you mean?"

"We jumped onto a train and we thought it would take us towards the center of Amestris," Ling said. "But instead, the train went south and to the battlefield."

"Oh," Ed said with a nod. "Yeah, most trains are going that way to help ship needed supplies to the warfront."

"Yeah well, Lan Fan and I ended up at the battle field and we thought that at the very least we could escape to one of the neighboring countries easier because of the closer borders. But then Lan Fan got really hurt and we had to find help."

Ed stared at Ling and saw how pale he seemed to have gotten. His face looked regretful and Lan Fan looked apologetic.

"Was this a different time?" Ed asked. "Before we found you guys?"

"Yes," Ling said. "We were near the battlefield and out of no where, something hit us. Well, it hit Lan Fan."

"I had to keep you safe, Master Ling," Lan Fan spoke urgently.

"You didn't have to risk your life for me!" He growled.

"Yes I did! That is my job, Master!" Lan Fan yelled. "It is my job and the job of my family to protect you! An arm is but a small price to pay for your life."

"An arm?" Ed asked.

Lan Fan took off the long-sleeved jacket she was wearing and threw it to the ground, revealing an arm of cool, dark metal where her left arm should have been. She had automail as well. Ed moved closer to her and studied it, compared it to his own arm.

"They're different," Ed muttered.

And it was true. While his arm was made of a lighter-colored metal, Lan Fan's was made of one that was almost black. Even to Ed's non-mechanical mind, he could tell that their structures were different. Everything about their arms seemed to be different.

"Where did you get this?" Ed asked urgently.

"We were in an underground bunker," Ling said. "There were a few others there that were getting prosthetics like us as well."

"Did you ever see Winry?"

"No. We just met her when we met you. Why?"

"That little liar," Ed hissed, a twisted grin coming to his face.

"Huh?"

"Her arm is completely different than mine! Why would she waste her time making a completely different arm when she already had a good prototype? She didn't make this arm. She never even saw you guys!" Ed cried before he sprung to his feet and began running off in the direction Winry went to.

"Where are you going?" Ling asked.

"I'm going to go find her and tell her that I know she's not as much of a hotshot as she thinks she is!"

Ed raced through the thick vegetation and tried to find where the blond-haired girl has run off to. After a moment of running, he found a pair of footprints in the soft ground that were smaller than his own. He followed the trail until he reached a small pond area, and saw here sitting at the edge.

_Here it comes, girly,_ Ed thought, smiling evilly. _Now you're gonna regret treating me like shit._

"Hey! Rockbell!" Ed screamed, running forwards. "I got some news that you aren't going to like!"

Ed crouched down next to her, expecting to see her eyes harsh and steam coming from her ears as usual but instead, got quite a shock.

She was crying.

* * *

**And FYI, Winry's reason isn't that she's PMS-ing. Or that she's on her period.**

**But, yeah, next chapter there will be a little EdWin moment that I do like and maybe possibly some AlMei or there will be at least some more Mei in the next chapter.**

**So review, don't bash too much, and hopefully you'll come back next chapter. :)**

**-FSK**


	25. Glimmer of Hope

**Hey everyone! Thanks for the reviews. :)**

**This chapter's kinda short but there's some slight EdWin in it so... yeah. Next chapter will probably be twice as long as this. But don't quote me on it!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Winry was crying.

Tears falling thick and fast down her face, her blue eyes bloodshot, her peachy skin blotchy. It was rather unbelievable.

So unbelievable in fact that Edward, who was balanced on his toes as he crouched down on the ground, fell flat on his ass. He had no idea what to do or say in this situation. Never in a million years would he suspect that this girl, who always was seemed so strong and bullheaded, to be sobbing and looking so damn vulnerable. It definitely made Ed hold back on telling her how she was a big fat liar.

"Um… a-are you uh, alright?" Ed asked, wide-eyed and completely in the dark on how to treat a crying girl. He had seen Rose cry plenty before but when she did, he tended to either ignore it or not have any clue on how to help. He guessed he was just useless when it came to comforting.

"Do I look alright, you dumbass?" Winry asked through a heavy sob as she wiped her eyes on her bandana.

Although he didn't exactly appreciate being called a dumbass, it showed that there was still some of the Winry he knew inside. It calmed him slightly.

Not knowing what else he could possibly do, Edward just continued to sit next to her and waited for her to calm down. If she wanted to talk, he would try but he had a feeling his inept comforting skills would only get him yelled at. So he waited.

Five minutes passed by before Winry had finally calmed down enough to speak. Ed was relieved when she finally stopped crying but it had taken her a good four minutes to stop the hiccups and small residual sobs. Once she had calmed down, Winry began swishing her bandana around in the slightly murky waters of the pond, cleaning it of its snot and tears.

"So…" Ed said after another moment of thick silence. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah… I guess," Winry mumbled, choosing to focus on her bandana.

"Can I ask why you were so upset?" he asked hesitantly after another awkward pause.

"Well I know you'll probably try and pry it out of my anyhow," Winry sighed.

Winry rung out her bandana and set in on the ground next to her before she pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She then put her head on top of her knees, staring out at nothing. Again, Ed thought she looked too vulnerable to be the Winry he had seen, but she was looking better than five minutes ago.

"I'm sorry I was such a complete bitch to you," she mumbled. "You didn't deserve that."

This, Ed had not expected. It was almost as much of a shock to hear her apologize as it was to see her sobbing.

"You mean just now or, you know, the _entire time_ that I've known you?" Ed asked with a grin.

"Just now," Winry said, deadpan. "You deserved what you got back at camp."

"Well I guess I'll accept your apology," Ed said. "Because you were _quite_ the flaming bitch back there."

"Hey! I just apologized for being a complete bitch. Flaming bitch is a few steps above what I'm willing to apologize for. Take it or leave it."

"Alright," he said, grinning again. "So, why were you so upset?"

Winry stared out into the distance for a moment before she turned her head to the left so that he could not see her face.

"I'm worried," she whispered.

"About what?"

"…my parents," Winry said in a voice that was just barely audible.

Edward felt the last bit of hatred for the girl chip away at the sound of her voice. She sounded like a small, terrified girl instead of the loud and strong grown woman she always seemed to be. Not to mention that he could understand worrying about parents; he remembered the terror he felt the day his mother had been killed and he didn't know if she was dead or alive yet.

"They'll be fine," Ed said confidently even though he knew that those words meant little.

"Pff, how can you possibly know?" Winry asked, bringing a hand up to wipe away a stray tear. "They stayed behind when the army was at our tails. They could be…"

Winry buried her face in her knees and squeezed her knees as tightly as she could as a fresh round of tears came around. Ed lifted up his flesh left hand and let it hover over her back for a moment, uncertain, before he set it down. When she didn't seem to mind, he began moving it in a slow, circular motion, something he remembered his own mother doing to him when he or Al was upset.

"Deharl I hab," Winry cried into her knees.

"Huh?" Ed asked quietly.

Winry pulled her face away from her knees and turned towards Ed, showing him once again what a complete mess she looked like.

"They're all I have!" Winry sobbed. "I can't loose them! I don't know what I would do without them…"

"Well…" Ed started, having no clue on how he should help her.

Winry unwound her arms from her knees and began wiping away her tears as best as she could.

"I always knew in the back of my head that I could loose them at any moment but I just kinda ignored it," Winry said, he sobs dissipating quickly but her tears seemed to continue with their constant flow. "Easier that way, you know?"

Edward nodded but didn't really know what she meant.

"Well, this is why I'm acting like such a psycho bitch right now," Winry said. "I want to hurry up and get to the safe place as soon as I can so I can see if they're alright or not! Because not knowing really is the worst part…"

When Ed nodded this time, he did actually know what she meant. Waiting was really horrible, tortuous even.

"And that's why I decided to come help them when I was fifteen. Because I was sick of waiting for them. I had already had to wait for them when I was little and I knew I couldn't do it again," Winry said, looking at Ed with her large, bloodshot eyes. "And now I have to do it again…"

Winry seemed to be done talking now and since Ed didn't really have anything to add, he just continued to sit there, rubbing her back as she stopped her crying. After another couple of minutes, Winry seemed to be better again. Ed pulled his hand away, feeling a little awkward about it all, and helped her stand up again. Together, they quietly walked through the jungle. They were close to where Ling and Lan Fan were waiting when a thought came to Ed.

"You know, you can leave us if you really need to," Ed said.

"What?" Winry asked, stopping.

"I understand how you feel right now and if you want, you can just give us some directions to follow and you can go. Because I know that we're… _I'm _slowing us down."

"No."

"Listen, it's not like I'm gonna get lost or something. I'm not completely useless with a map."

"No," Winry said again.

"Why not?"

"Because…because I wouldn't want to get there and be alone," Winry said quietly before she looked at him and gave the slightest of smiles. "And I wouldn't want to have to wait for even more people as well."

"You would wait?" Ed asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Winry said before she replaced her small smile with her usual cocky one. "And I wouldn't want my good hard work to go missing in the jungle. You have no idea how much time and money I put into those things."

"Right, right," Ed said with a nod. "_That's_ why you'd wait."

"Exactly."

"Oh! And speaking of your hard work…"

* * *

They were only about an hour away from East city now; hours ago, they had passed by the eastern town of Youswell where they had gotten their last rations for their trip that they would never finish. Once they had reached actual roads, the truck was able to much faster, only bringing the captives to their fate sooner.

"Well… I guess it'll be nice to see the lights and sounds of Central again," Al sighed during the night as he stared out the back of the truck.

"I've never been there, is it nice?" Russell asked quietly, staring at the faint lights in the distance that could only be East city.

"Yeah. But not in the same way that Resembool is nice," Al said. "It's loud and crowded and everyone runs around like they've got their head cut off. Real hustle and bustle kind of life. But it's interesting."

"…doesn't your dad work in Central?" Fletcher asked quietly after a few minutes of silence.

Al's eyes sprung wide and his heart began to beat rapidly. How could he have forgotten? His father did work in a laboratory in Central, one that worked on secret projects for the military…

"Maybe there's a way…" Al whispered to himself, forgetting everyone else in the truck.

What if they ended up in the lab where his father worked and what if his father saw him there, about to be used as a lab rat? Well he would just have to find a way to break them out, wouldn't he?

"What's up, Al?" Russell asked quietly.

"I'll tell you later," Al mouthed more than said, since his voice was so low. "We may have a way out after all."

* * *

The two brother's traveled for several more days, neither sure what they would face when they finally reached their destination. They both continue to hope. They hoped that they would arrive at the right lab by chance and hoped that another child would not be split from their parents by death. Hope was the only thing they could really do anymore. They could only move in their set path and could do little to escape it. They would have to reach their destination and face whatever was at its end.

So when Edward, Winry, Ling, and Lan Fan finally reached their desired safe place and Alphonse, Russell, Fletcher, and Mei reached their completely unsafe place, they stood as strong as they could and moved forwards.

* * *

**Yeah so, short, but stuff happened. **

**I'm exhausted from redecorating my room and now I'm gonna go collapse somewhere.**

**Bye! **

**-FSK**


	26. The Shack and the Laboratory

**Uh... Hi everyone.**

**Okay so I am SO sorry about the wait but I've been kinda busy and I was taking a mental health retreat and there was some writer's block but, yeah. Sorry. I do feel really bad about the wait but I hope this super long chapter will help those who had to wait.**

**Again, a very big thank you to my editor, Dani, and her very speedy edits and thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"…here it is," Winry said quietly as she stopped in her tracks.

Edward, Ling, and Lan Fan all stopped and followed Winry's eyes and saw a small house. The house appeared to be made out of concrete bricks, making it much harder for the thick tropical vegetation to overtake it. Most of the outside of the building was covered in green vegetation, blending it in with the rest of the forest. Winry lead them forwards; no one spoke.

They had been traveling for several days now and they had finally found their supposed safe house. Edward nearly broke down and cried when he saw it; his shoulder and his knee hurt so badly, but he hardly ever asked for rest stops anymore. Now, hopefully, he could sit for a while without having to move around again.

Winry forced the heavy metal door open with his shoulder and went inside. Everything in the small building was covered in a thick layer of dust and from what Edward could see, there seemed to be very little furniture in the small house, if it could be called a house. It was one room, probably ten feet by ten feet, and held what appeared to be a small table in the center of the room with one of its two chairs knocked on its side, and a small stove in the corner. There were two dusty and cracked windows with one on either side of the house, and underneath all of the dust, the floor was made of concrete.

"Well, no one seems to be here," Ed commented before he sneezed.

"Maybe," Winry muttered as she got onto her hands and knees and began moving the dust aside.

"Um, what are you doing?" Ed asked as the three watched Winry.

"I'm looking…for…" Winry's eyes lit up as she brushed aside some dust and began pulling at something, causing a horrible screeching sound. "For the door that leads to the cellar."

Ed rushed forwards to help her lift the metal door and was instantly covered in a shower of rust. Once the door was up, Winry let out a huff and wiped her face on her bandana.

"Well, I guess we really are the first ones here," Winry sighed, sitting back. "Not with all this rust and dust here."

"What's down there?" Ling asked, peering down into the dark underground.

"Um, let me think," Winry muttered, pausing to wipe her face with her bandana. "I think there's a well or something you can get clean water from. Not much else from what I can remember."

"Should we go down there?" Lan Fan asked.

"Yeah. I think it's a little cooler."

And the heat was rather oppressive in the house.

Winry felt around the edge of the opening until her fingers caught something and unlatched the swing-down stairs. Ed studied them and even thought they were made of metal, they seemed to be a rather rusty and he wasn't sure if they would hold his weight. Ed looked up at Winry and sighed.

"Ladies first?" He asked with a hint of a smile.

"Fine, you baby," Winry muttered before she began to lower herself down into the dark depths of the basement.

Ed shot her an annoyed look before she had disappeared, to which she smirked at. Things seemed to have mellowed a bit between the two blonds ever since Winry's one and only moment of weakness. Winry seemed to be less of a drill sergeant and Ed tended to hold back some of his harder comments when they fought. Truth be told, he was happier now that they weren't at each other's throats anymore. Their cease-fire also helped Ed remember how he felt when he first saw her…

"Well, isn't this place just a palace," Ling muttered sarcastically as he looked around the gloomy, dirty basement. "I better not touch anything or else I'll get a staff infection or something."

"Quit whining," Winry growled half-heartedly as she felt around the dusty walls of the dark room. "I know there's a lantern somewhere…"

The three stood huddled together at the base of the ladder while Winry looked around for the lantern. After a minute of groping around in the dark, there was the hiss of a gas lamp and a small ball of light came out of the far right corner.

"It's not much, but make yourselves at home," she said as she hung the lantern from the ceiling with a length of rope.

While Winry moved around, lighting another lamp, Ed looked around the cellar. It was larger than the small house above; nearly twice as large. On the opposite wall from the ladder, there was a rusty facet with a metal trough underneath it. The floor seemed to be merely a dirt floor dug from the earth but after some close inspection, Ed found something hard and sturdy underneath the dirt. The walls were made out of large blocks of stone and there were three small windows at the very top of the room that Winry unlatched, letting in some fresh air and light.

"That's a little better, don't you think?" she asked as she peered out of the three-inch wide window. "We'll have to close them when it rains but for right now they'll help."

"Yeah," Ed agreed. "This place is in some need of fresh air. When was the last time someone came down here?"

"I honestly couldn't tell you," Winry said with a shrug. "My best guess would be maybe eighteen, nineteen years ago. I know my parents haven't been here in that long but maybe someone else has since then. I've never been here though. My parents only gave me the general idea of what was here."

"Who else knows where this place is?" Ling asked as he walked around the cellar.

"My parents. My grandmother. Um… some of the guys from the Automail Bunker probably. If they didn't know where this place was, they were given coordinates."

"Do you think anyone will be here soon?" Lan Fan asked.

"I don't know. Maybe. All of the groups probably had at least one automail patient with them and I doubt any of them were as persistent as Captain Grumpy over here."

Winry grinned at Ed, who scowled. He would love to yell how he was only pushing himself because Winry had looked so pathetic as she worried about her parents but he held it in. He had promised not to tell the others about her meltdown but sometimes when she was be especially snotty he had just wished that he could blurt it out.

"Anyways, it could be a few days before anyone gets here," Winry said before she moved towards the water spout and brushed away some spider webs. "This water should be safe to drink.

At first, the water came out an unappealing rust color but after a minute of clearing out the pipes, the water ran clear and only tasted mildly of rust.

"So, do you guys want to stay down here or go back up?"

"It's cooler down here," Ed said with a sigh as he leaned against the cold, slightly damp wall.

"Yeah, and the water's down here," Ling said as he filled up one of his water bottles.

"Well then, let's set up camp and wait," Winry said as she began pulling things from her pack. "This could take a while."

* * *

As their truck sped through the streets of Central, Alphonse, Russell, Fletcher, and Mei were greeted with hisses and boos from the citizens. They knew that this truck was filled with runners. With every passing minute, everyone's pulse seemed to increase, no one spoke anymore. Whenever the truck would slow down or stop, Al's heart always sunk, thinking that they were finally at the laboratory but the truck would always move after a moment and his stomach would unclench slightly. But after twenty minutes of this, the truck made its way through some heavy metal gates and Al knew that they had finally arrived.

"Heh, looks like it's the end of the line for you cowards," one of the men chortled from the front seat.

Al set his jaw and glared at the air in front of him. In his opinion, these men were the real cowards. Low-lives who managed to get into good grace with people high above and who managed to save their own neck by turning in people who didn't want to fight in some pointless war. Because really, this war and most of the wars Amestris has had were indeed pointless. People hardly even knew what this war was about. Probably some Aerugan noble sneezed on an Amestrian without saying sorry.

_This countries existence is nothing but one long and never ending war_, Al though miserably as the truck came to a halt. _And how stable is a country built up on perpetual wars?_

Al would have loved to ask what Russell and Fletcher thought about this but at that moment, he heard the doors slam shut and footsteps moving around the side of the van. A few seconds later, the men arrived, leering at them. One held a gun that was pointed into the back while the other two held handcuffs.

"Now, we're gonna handcuff ya and then take you inside. If you resist, I shoot ya. Got it?" said the man with the gun, who appeared to be the leader. He them motioned to the other two with his head. "Get in there and cuff 'em."

A large man who had horrible body odor and a very thin man who seemed incapable of standing completely still moved into the back and quickly hand-cuffed all of them. The thin man paused for a minute after he had cuffed Mei and smiled lecherously at her while he twirled one of her numerous braids around a dirty finger a nail. He moved his dirty, unshaven face close to hers before he spoke.

"Ya sure are perdy," he muttered before grabbing onto his face. "I should do hope they don't mess ya up too bad. I'd like to get some fun out of ya first."

Mei cringed visibly and tried to get her face out of the man's hand.

"Let go of me!" she cried, trying desperately to get out of his grip. "You will not treat me like this! I am royalty!"

"Oh really?" asked the man. "Well then maybe we can sells ya and get a pretty penny in return. I wonder how much a man would pay for someone clamin' to be royalty?"

"No price would be high enough for me," she said quietly as tears sparkled in the very corners of her eyes.

"Really? Cuz I gots a lot of money, little lady," he whispered as he moved his other hand to her upper thigh. "I bet'cha I could meet your price."

Mei turned and gave him a look of utmost loathing.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not into bestiality," she said scathingly. "I would never sleep with a _pig_."

_SLAP!_

The man had removed his hand from her face and leg and slapped her. The force of the slap had knocked her to the ground and a loud noise resonated afterwards. Before he knew what he was doing, Al was pushing himself up and rammed into the man with his head. The man, caught off guard, fell to the ground next to Mei, who was still in shock slightly.

Al ignored the shouts from the other people but glared at the man as he pushed himself from the ground. The man wiped the blood from his lip, which had split due to the force of falling on his face, before he slugged Al right in the jaw. Al turned to see the man getting ready to hit him again when a shot rang out from behind them.

At first, Al had though that the man had shot someone, probably him, but when he felt no pain or heard no screams from the other occupants of the truck, he realized that no one was hurt. The man had in fact shot into the air to break up the fight, surprising Al.

"Vince," the man barked. "Quit playing with your food and get out here."

The man, Vince, glared at Al before spitting on him and then jumped out of the truck.

"Lawrence," the fatter man turned to look at the man, "Go run up to the lab and tell them the rats have arrived."

"Yes, sir," he said in a low voice before he crawled out of the truck and began waddling out of view.

"Now, Blondie," the man turned his eyes to Al and pointed his gun lazily at him. "Since you seem so ken to spill your blood, you'll be going first."

Al felt his stomach drop to his shoes but he kept his face set and continued to glare at the man. In the back of his mind, he felt he knew what his brother would say if he had seen this scene: There's a time and place for chivalry and this was not it, dumbass!

And by the looks on Russell and Fletcher's faces, he felt that they would say the same thing. Trying to stay calm, Al turned his head and looked at Mei, who had sat up but was still looking quite dazed.

"Are you alright?" he asked, eyeing the large red mark on her left cheek.

Mei's face grew redder and her eyes, now as large as dinner plates, were shinning with what he assumed were unshed tears. She brought her shoulders up in an attempt to hide her face before she nodded.

"Come on now," the leader growled before he moved and grabbed tightly onto Al's upped arm and began pulling. "You're wasting time, rat!"

Al looked at Russell and Fletcher, who both were wearing unreadable expressions, and looked pleadingly at them. It was his fault that they were here and it would haunt him for the rest of his life, even though his life might not last much longer…

* * *

"So Edward, what were you doing before you were forced into this hell-hole?" Winry asked an hour later as they ate a meager meal.

"Working," he muttered through a mouthful of cheese and crackers. "At a store. With some friends."

"No school or anything?" Winry asked, surprised.

"Nope."

"That's quite the shock," she said before she sunk her teeth into an apple.

"Well, it's not like it was my first choice," Ed said with a small sigh.

"What do you mean by that?" Ling asked.

"Well… this war, the people in Central who do lots of experiments and shit for the war, they were always looking for people to help."

Ed took a long sip of water before he continued.

"They took my dad when I was eleven," he said. "I haven't seen him since then."

Ling and Lan Fan gave looks of sympathy while Winry continued to eat her apple, staring at him with curiosity.

"But my dad told me that they would be looking for more people and if this war didn't continue for long, there would probably be another war soon after it. But he said that the people would be looking at me and my brother, to see if we would be as useful as he was. So… to protect myself, I just laid low. Didn't show my full potential. I allowed my brother, Al, to go further his education as long as he was careful…"

Ed paused while his thoughts drifted to Al and the other two blond boys. Had they made it to Xing yet? Or were they still battling through the desert? Had they even made it to the desert? Were they captured, rotting in some jail somewhere? If Al was caught… Ed didn't know what he would do. It was just so much easier to see him lying low in Xing, even if it wasn't the most realistic view.

"But it didn't matter in the end anyhow," Ed said, bringing himself back to reality. "I still got caught up in this dumb war and Al is running for his life out there."

No one spoke for several minutes while they all though over what Ed had just said. The first person to speak was Winry, who had finished her apple and now tossed the core into the corner.

"You're brother… is he as stubborn and bull-head as you?" Winry asked before she began guzzling down a water bottle.

Ed scowled and glared slightly at her before answering.

"Stubborn, yes. Bull-headed, no," Ed said before letting a small smile come to his face. "Al was always way more level headed than me."

"Well then I'm sure he's fine," she said confidently.

"How so?"

"Because," she said with a roll of her eyes. "If you managed to survive a war and escape then I'm sure your more level headed brother can travel a desert. I'm sure he's fine."

Ed stared at her for a moment as he tried to understand the blond girl. One moment, she's at his throat, calling him a complete idiot and then the next, she trying to comfort him. He would never understand her.

"Right," he said with a nod, willing himself to believe in the words. "I'm sure Al's lying in the sun somewhere in Xing, drinking a smoothie or something."

If only those words could be true.

* * *

The man, who Al later found out was name Wilkes, had walked him into the dim building and down a hallway before he reached a pair of metal double doors which were flanked with two guards. He told them fresh meat before he handed him off to one of the guards and told him to take him to lab room B9. Now Al was being lead down a pristine white hallway, a doorway popping up every couple of feet. None of the doors had windows but all were labeled with a letter and number: A1…A2…A3… Every now and again, a wail of pain would come from one of the rooms. He tried not to think about how that could be him in a matter of minutes.

The guard pushed him on to a lift and pressed the number two button before they moved upwards. The second floor was just the same as the last except now all the rooms started with the letter B. It would take him less than a minute for them to reach his designated room. His heart hammered against his chest, as if it were trying to escape from its prison before the pain came.

Finally, they had reached the room B9. The guard pulled out a ring of keys and took a moment to find the right key while his other hand gripped onto Al's wrists. In no time at all, it seemed, the man had selected the right key and opened the door.

"Welcome to your new home," he said emotionlessly as he pushed Al inside.

While the guard locked the door, Al looked around his room, desperate to maybe find a way out. Like everything else, it was white. White walls, white floors, white examination table with white restraints. He noticed that under the table, lay a drain. He didn't want to think of why they would need a drain in a room. There was no window, no other door. The only way out was currently being locked securely behind him.

"Get on the bed, rat," the guard said in a bored voice, jabbing a gun barrel into the small of his back.

Doing as he was told, Al pulled himself onto the bed, trying his best not the shake like a leaf, even though he knew he was failing miserably. The guard then began to tie the restraints, around his chest, his waist, and his knees, all one notch too tight, making sure that their rat would stay good and stuck in its place.

"Stay put," the guard mumbled as he moved towards the door, as if moving was an option. "You'll be seen to in a moment."

The door opened and then closed, leaving Al all alone, waiting for his torturer to come. There was no clock in the room, so he had no idea if he had lain there for mere seconds, or maybe minutes or possibly even hours. But eventually, he heard the audible click the lock on the other side of the door before it opened. The table was turned away from the door so it was impossible to see who had entered.

Al continued to lie there, waiting for the person to say something, do anything. But they didn't. The person continued to stand where he couldn't see and it unnerved him greatly. Finally, Al had had enough and spoke in a voice that sounded much more courageous than he felt.

"Show yourself, you coward!"

"…Alphonse."

Al blinked, confused. The voice had sounded not only calm, if not a little surprised, but vaguely familiar. The man, he knew it was a man now from the voice, took a deep breath and began to take agonizingly slow steps towards him. The man stood behind him for a moment, making it impossible for Al to see him, for a moment before he moved into a spot where he could see.

A small involuntary gasp came out of his mouth at the site of the man. The man he had not seen in seven years but would know anywhere. With his long, gold locks pulled back into a low pony tail, tawny eyes hidden behind rectangular spectacles, and his tall, sturdy build covered up in long white lab coat.

"Alphonse," he repeated, his voice slightly breathless. "You've gotten so big…"

Al didn't know what to say, for he seemed to lose his inability to string words together. But after a few moments spent struggling to comprehend what was going on, one word finally formed in his brain and made it out of his mouth.

"Dad."

* * *

**MWAH-AH-AH! God I love this chapter. I think I love it so much because it's reminiscent to Brotherhood (oh I miss you, you lovely story...) But yeah, awesome cliff hanger- for me. Horrible cliffhanger for you. Sorry but that's the way my evil mind works.**

**Hopefully I'll be able to update way earlier than two months but who knows. In like, a week and half I'm starting school and I've never been this busy. Honestly, I'll have three days a week where I don't have anything to do after school until November and then I'll probably have to get a job. So yeah... gonna be busy. Sucks.**

**Enough ranting, please send a review my way and I hope you like it. :)**

**-FSK**


	27. Nightmares

**Hi... everyone. *collapses* Man am I tired. God I hate school.**

**So, started my Junior year last week and I'm already hoping and praying for summer to come. I am so freaking busy with school work, marching band, and then night classes twice a week to go learn German, which is a total time-suck. **

**But hopefully I can keep writing. :)**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter and thank you to my editor, Dani. :D**

* * *

Alphonse stared at his father, who looked remarkably unchanged from his memory, but didn't speak. His mouth and brain seemed to have shut down and even if they hadn't, he still didn't know what else to say. He felt that it was something of a miracle that he had managed to choke out a single, tangible word. After a minutes silence, Al felt that his father was stuck with the same problem because he too, only managed to choke out a few words before he clammed up. Only several more moments of complete silence did something happen.

Hohenheim Elric let out a shaky breath before his face crumpled and he hid his leaking face in his large hands. Al had no idea of what to do and couldn't even try to comfort the man due to the restraints. The man's shoulders shook with sobs and Al could see some tears that had escaped the cover of his hands. After Hohenheim had pulled himself together slightly, he pulled his hands away from his face and stared down at his youngest son.

"You're alive," he said in his shaky voice.

"So are you…" Al said quietly, wishing that he could just get out of the tight restraints.

Hohenheim seemed to read his mind as he quickly bent down to undo the belts as quickly as he could. Al sat up on the table a moment later and was soon engulfed by his father's arms. His shoulder's shook again but this time he seemed to keep in the tears. Al however, was very near a break down of his own and didn't know how long he could keep in everything. Hohenheim broke away sooner than Al would have liked, he was enjoying the affection that he had missed coming from a parent, and bent down slightly so that he was eye to eye with his son.

"You're really alive," he repeated but he appeared to be saying this more to himself than to Al. "I didn't… I didn't know what to believe after…"

Hohenheim placed a hand on each of Al's shoulders and let his head fall. He picked up his head again and smiled slightly to Al.

"You really have grown you know."

"I know," Al said with a nod, unsure of what to do; he was really more caught up with why his father was acting as if he had seen a ghost. Al then moved to more pressing matters. "Dad, you need to help us get out of here."

"… I don't know if that's possible," he said quietly after a moment.

"What?"

"Or that it would be worth trying."

"Why? What do you mean?"

"Because…" Hohenheim started, looking regretful. "Because I tried to escape, Alphonse. And it may have cost your brother his life."

* * *

"Stop…" he moaned, covering his ears in hopes of covering up the noise.

He could make out people running through a thick haze of smoke. Many of the fleeing people fell to the ground, having been hit with the raining bullets. Everywhere he looked, people were dying.

"No. _Stop it!_" Ed cried, curling up in defeat, giving up on fighting the sounds and images. "Just stop!"

Blood. Blood covered the ground and the surrounding buildings and even his hands. There was blood on his hands. The blood of all the people he had killed…

"I didn't want to!" he cried.

The small boy from the barracks. His body destroyed by the land mine. His blood and organs painting the streets. It could have been him.

"Edward!"

Edward's eyes flew open and sprung up from his position on the floor. The dark confused and scared him. For several moments, he couldn't think of where he was or who he was with. The only thing that registered in his mind was how fast his heart was beating. It was as if he had just run a mile.

"Ed, Calm down," said a gentle voice that was vaguely familiar.

A lamp went on a few feet away, allowing Ed to see again. He was in a dark, nondescript room. After a moment's thought, he remembered it was the cellar of the small safe house Winry had taken them to. Winry…

Ed's eyes flew to the face that was in front of his and saw Winry's, looking very concerned. She was crouched in front of him with her left hand placed carefully on his right shoulder with a damp rag in her right hand, which hovered uncertainly a foot away from his head.

"W-what happened?" he asked, hating the edge of panic that he registered in his own voice.

"Nothing just lay down," Winry said in a calm and motherly voice that sounded nothing like her usual voice. She applied some pressure on his right shoulder as she tried to get him to lie down. "You just had a nightmare is all."

"No… but, but," Ed stuttered as he gave into Winry and lay down. "It didn't seem like a nightmare. It seemed real."

"It was just a nightmare," she repeated calmly as she began cooling his face with the wet cloth. "You were here the entire time and nothing happened to you. Just a bad dream. Take a deep breath."

Edward took a deep, shaky breath, as he tried to make himself believe that what he had seen and heard was nothing but a figment of his imagination.

"Now let it out," she said calmly. "Now drink some water."

A glass appeared in his line of vision. He accepted it, just now registering how thirsty he was. He drank the glass quickly before he curled back down on his blanket that was stretched out on the cool ground of the cellar.

He could hear other voices talking quietly near by and remembered Ling and Lan Fan and quickly felt embarrassment come to him. It was bad enough that Winry had seen him freak out but to have two more people see him was horrible. They must have thought that he was crazy and a weakling.

"What time is it?" Ed asked, trying to make his voice sound strong when he still felt so weak.

"It's just after midnight," Winry answered. "You've been asleep for about two hours. We all have."

"Okay," Ed said, wishing that Ling and Lan Fan would stop whispering. He just knew they were whispering about him.

"Are you hungry?" Winry asked, losing some of her gentleness but not all of it.

Ed shook his head, not trusting his voice.

"Alright," Winry said before she turned and laid down on the blanket that was laid out only a foot away from his own. When she spoke again, she spoke in only a whisper. "Do you want to talk about your dream?"

Again, Ed shook his head. He didn't want to talk or think about anything right now. The lamp flicked off in the corner and he heard Winry sigh as Ling and Lan Fan stopped their own whispered conversation.

"You know they say it's good to talk about stuff like this."

"Stuff like what?" Ed asked, against his own wish to keep quiet.

"The nightmares," she said. "I would see plenty of people back in the medical tent back at camp wake up from dreams screaming their heads off. Sure that they were in the middle of a war with no idea where they really were. Some of them even attacked us, thinking we were the enemy."

Ed didn't say anything to this. He had already forgotten that Winry had helped in the medical tent with some patients. He regained a little pride when he thought of how he was sure he hadn't attacked Winry when others did. At least she had seen worse…

"So if you need to talk, you could come to me," he said in the smallest voice he had ever heard her speak in.

Ed nodded, no thinking of how Winry could not see him.

"Well," she said after a minute of silence, this time her voice much louder. "Get some sleep."

* * *

"Shh," Hohenheim hushed, pressing a finger to his lips and looking worriedly at the door. "The people who run this have tabs on everyone who works here, whether they volunteered or not. They know where everyone's love ones are and they have someone who could kill them if people misbehave."

"What?" Al asked, dumbfounded.

"Yes," he said gravely, nodding. "And so I never knew if you two were okay after I tried. And since you're okay… I only have to assume they attacked Edward. Do you know where he is?"

Al stared at his father for a moment before he managed to speak.

"He's been drafted, Dad," he said quietly. "Ed's been sent to war."

"What?"

Hohenheim collapsed against the opposite wall, looking defeated. He covered his face with his hands again and began shaking his head slowly, as if he couldn't believe the words that had come out of Al's mouth. When he finally pulled his hands away from his face, Al saw no tears on his father's face but saw that his golden eyes were filled with fear.

"They could do anything to him and no one would think anything of it," Hohenheim said hollowly. "They could throw a bomb at him and not a single person would think it was murder."

Al's insides went cold and his heart sped so that it was once again ramming against his ribs. Ed could be dead… The thought made him want to be sick.

"But he might not be dead," Al said hopefully. "Or, or he could just be hurt or m-maybe they didn't get him or something."

"I'm sorry to say but Edward would be very, very lucky if he was merely wounded," Hohenheim said gravely.

"But… is there a way to find out if he's alright or not?" Al asked. "There's got to be if they've got people watching them."

"Perhaps," Hohenheim said, still looking very grim. "I'll have to look into it but it may be possible."

"Good," Al said, nodding.

"But before that, I have to know, why are you here?" Hohenheim asked. "Why are you here instead of back home?"

"Well…" Al started, looking slightly uncomfortable. "Well we, me and some of my friends, we ran. Ed and me came up with the plan."

Hohenheim took a deep breath and nodded.

"Alright son," he said. "Start from the beginning. We've got some time to kill here."

* * *

"You're almost here?" Winry exclaimed in a loud voice that sounded like nails on a chalkboard to Ed's tired mind. "Yeah. We've been here for over a day now."

Giving up on his wish to keep sleeping, Ed groaned and pushed himself up into a sitting position. Due to the slightly orange light coming in from the small window at the top of the room, Ed would guess that it was just after dawn. Ed saw Ling and Lan Fan sitting up on their mats, looking just as tired as Ed felt; they too must have been woken up by Winry's voice.

Ed turned his attention to Winry and saw that she was speaking into an old walkie-talkie and looked as if she had just rolled out of bed with her hair a tangled mess and only in a state of being partially dressed. She seemed oblivious to everyone else in the room because when her eyes, which had a wild look to them, scanned the room, she made no recognition that she was seeing anything at all.

"What's this all about?" Ed asked, crawling over to where Ling and Lan Fan sat, watching the scene with interest.

"We don't know," Lan Fan answered quietly. "When we woke up she was like this."

"She's kind of interesting, this woman," Ling muttered, staring at Winry with curiosity. "Very entertaining."

"I guess you could say that," Ed muttered as he drank some water.

"And rather appealing to the eyes," Ling added, a glint in his eyes.

"What?" Ed stuttered as he spit out water.

Ling turned to him, grinning from ear to ear.

"Well isn't she?" he asked. "I can tell you find her attractive, even if you two do fight like children at times."

Ed felt blood rushing to his face as he tried to say something, anything that would refute this accusation. Instead, however, he was left stuttering and muttering while Ling sniggered at him.

_So what if she's attractive, because yeah, she's pretty_, Ed thought in his jumbled mind_. Just because a person thinks someone looks good doesn't mean jack-shit! Or well… maybe it does…_

Ed turned away from the two, crossed his arms across his chest and glared across the room. Winry stopped talking on the walkie-talkie and tossed it onto her pile of belongings. She then turned to the group against the wall and looked slightly started, as if she had forgotten that there were other people here with her.

Winry sighed, pushed his hair from her face and spoke.

"Good news, we're gonna get some help soon," Winry said, smiling. "The other's are going to be here really soon! We're getting out of this basement!"

* * *

**Some EdWin. **

**So next chapter will Winry be reunited with her family? Or not? What do you think? And possibly an escape plot? Hmm... You'll just have to stick around to find out. :)**

**Hopefully I can update soon.**

**-FSK**


	28. M I A

**Hello's people.**

**As you probably know, today is September 11th and well, I'm not very good with emotional or serious stuff so let's just, I don't know, think about everyone who was lost and I'm sorry if anyone who reads this knew anyone who died. :(**

**But my lovely editor got this chapter edited really quickly so I had to update it but let's give a big thanks to her for her awesome work. :)**

* * *

Al was escorted back to his cell by a guard some time later. The cell blocks were all in the basement and each cell contained a few people. The cells were about five feet by five feet cubes with metal bars making three walls and a concrete wall making the fourth. In his cell, thankfully, were Russell, Fletcher, and Mei, who all looked terrified but look relived when he returned, looking no worse than when he had left them.

"What happened?" Russell asked quickly as soon as the guard had gone away. His blue eyes scanned Al's body, looking for some sort of mark of the cruelty they were sure to have done to him.

"What did they do to you?" Fletcher asked.

"Are you alright, Alphonse?" Mei asked quietly.

"I'm fine, really, I am," Al whispered, glancing around to make sure no one heard him. "But listen, you'll never guess who's here."

"Who?"

"…my father."

"What?" Fletcher and Russell exclaimed in confusion.

"What is your father doing in a place like this?" Mei asked. "Surely he isn't evil."

"No, he's being forced here against his will," Al told Mei quickly. "He has been for several years now. But he was the one who was supposed to examine me or do whatever to me."

Alphonse quickly relayed what Hohenheim had told him about how everyone in the lab had files on them and their loved ones and how Edward was probably punished because of him trying to escape.

"So… what're the chances that Ed's still alive?" Russell asked hollowly.

"Not very good," Al whispered, trying to stay calm. "But that's the other thing. My dad's gonna go see if he can get Ed's file from where ever they keep the files on everyone and he's sure it'll say whether Ed's… whether Ed's still around…"

Al took a deep breath before he plowed on.

"And once we find out about Ed, we need to escape from here," Al said fiercely. "I got lucky because my dad happened to be assigned to the room but I doubt that'll happen again. It's only a matter of time before something bad happens to one of us."

"So do we have any plan?" Russell asked.

"My dad's trying to work it out because he already tried before and failed so he's probably our best chance at finding a weak spot to escape from."

The four teens sat quietly in their cell, with no idea what to do or say that could possibly make this situation any better. After a few minutes, heavy footsteps could be heard coming towards their cell and they all exchanged fearful looks. Who would be next to go? And what would happen to them?

"Alphonse?"

"Dad," Al sighed in relief as he moved forwards and gripped onto the bars. "What're you doing here?"

"I don't have much time," Hohenheim said, looking over his shoulder quickly. "But I wanted to tell you that no one from this cell is scheduled for any testing until Sunday night."

"Sunday night?" Russell asked weakly. "That's only three days away. Do you know who it is?"

Hohenheim shook his head.

"The pick will most likely be random or it'll be made a few minutes before they come down here. But the important thing is that we have three days to break out of here. Because there's a strong possibility that if it's more than three days, we won't all be leaving together."

The four people exchange extremely nervous and scared expressions before they turned back to look at Hohenheim.

"In the mean time, I'll be working on getting Ed's file and then we'll work from there."

"And what if it takes too long to get Ed's file?" Al asked. "What if we have to leave and not know where Ed is?"

Hohenheim shrugged.

"We'll just have to wing it."

* * *

"Come on guys," Winry said as she lifted the metal trapdoor as fast as she could. "Let's get out of here."

Edward rushed forwards to help her with the heavy door and together they lifted it up. They then climbed the ladder up and moved into the small room above. The hot humid air hit them but they didn't retreat into the cooler basement.

"How long until they'll be here?" Ed asked, who was already beginning to sweat profusely from the heat.

"Probably ten to fifteen minutes," Winry answered, seeming distracted as she stared out one of the windows. "We'll probably be able to hear them soon… any minute now."

Edward watched as Winry paced quickly around the confided space of the safe house. Any time there was a rustle of leaves outside or possibly, Winry had imagined hearing a noise, she was at a window or the door, staring out into the jungle looking for her friends. He felt as if he shouldn't be here, watching her. It was almost sad, watching her expression jump to hopeful to apprehensive to scared and distracted.

No one said a word. Ed sat down by Ling and Lan Fan, who also looked sorry about the scene they were watching in front of them, while Winry paced, jumped to the windows or doors, checked her radio, and occasionally mumbled to herself. Finally, the madness stopped when they heard a loud yell from several feet outside of the house.

"Winry!" a man yelled.

Winry's face instantly perked up and in a flash she was out of the building. Edward could hear some soft words being said and then all of a sudden, there was a loud explosion of screams and cries from Winry and Ed, Ling, and Lan Fan quickly got up and followed after Winry.

After running for a few quick seconds, they caught up with Winry, who looked as if she was trying to beat up a very large man as she screamed at him.

Ed took a quick inventory of who was there: there was the large man, who looked exhausted; it took Ed a moment to remember it was the same man who had helped Winry carry him through the bunker when she kidnapped him weeks ago; Ed also recognized the red-haired man, Rollan, who's right arm was heavily bandaged and resting in a sling made out of what appeared to be an old shirt; there were three patients, all sporting pieces of automail and looking as if they had just gone through hell; lastly, Ed noticed one doctor; he was elderly and had several half-healed wounds. A group of six people had reached the safe-house and after another minute of searching the group, Ed realized that none of them were Mr. or Mrs. Rockbell. His stomach squirmed unpleasantly for a moment but he forced himself to keep positive.

Ed turned his attention back to Winry, who was yelling loudly, but far too quickly for anyone to really understand what she was saying. Rollan and the man, Goran, where trying to calm her down but with every passing minute, she only seemed to be building up steam.

"Winry you have to calm down!" Rollan cried, looking very upset, as he tried to force Winry to stop her widely gesticulating hands.

"_Calmdown?_ Idon'thavetocalmdown! Howcouldyouhavedonethat,youassholes! Howcouldyouhaveleftthem? Afteralltheydidforfyou!"

Ed then noticed that there were large tears running down Winry's face as she screamed and punched at the men, who were both wearing somber expressions.

"Winry… there was nothing we could have done," Goran said, catching Winry's slim wrists in his large hands. "We were following _their_ orders to get everyone else out of there. We did what we were told. They knew what they were doing."

"Well you should have gone against them!" Winry shouted, whose sobs were now hindering the speed at which she talked and allowed the other to hear her words better. "You should have realized how stupid they were being and stopped them! Why didn't you go back and get them?"

"This is why your parent's didn't want you to come," Goran said evenly, even though his large arms and shoulders shook slightly. "There are things about a war that you just don't understand. There are sacrifices that are necessary."

"Sacrifices?" Winry sobbed. "They weren't sacrifices! They were left for dead by the people who they cared for!"

"No, Winry," Rollan said, his voice shaking and his eyes watering. "Like we said, this was something they knew they had to do and they knew what could happen. They understood."

"Clearly they didn't!" Winry shouted through her tears. "Or else they wouldn't have done it! Why would they do that when they knew they could be leaving me behind? They love me! Why would they do that to me? _How could they just leave me behind like that_?"

Winry yelled the last line as loudly as she could before she collapsed onto Goran and lost herself completely, sobbing hysterically with no idea of what was going on around her. Goran, looking very shaken, scooped her up as if she were a rag doll and carried her into the house. Ed watched her disappear before he turned to Rollan, who was currently rubbing his eyes furiously.

"What happened?" Ed demanded, even though he already knew what had happened in the back of his head. Nothing but the worst could have defeated that strong and resilient girl.

Rollan shook his head before he looked up at Edward, looking as if he had aged ten years in about ten seconds, and spoke.

"The Rockbells… they didn't make it," he said heavily. "They were killed as they were trying to escape the bunker."

* * *

Hohenheim walked calmly down the hall, hoping against hope that no one would ask why he was on a level that he was not assigned to. The record room was on this floor and if his plan went correctly, he would know where his eldest son was within a few minutes.

Feeling nervous, Hohenheim patted the pocket in his lab coat for probably the hundredth time within the past half and hour and felt the slim syringe. Inside of the syringe was enough sedatives to knock out three guards; there were usually only one to two guards protecting the records room but he felt that he better be over-prepared than under-prepared.

"Scientist, what are you doing here?" asked a guard as he walked down the hall.

Hohenheim froze and turned, trying to seem calm and aloof when in reality his heart was hammering against his chest and his palms were beginning to sweat with nerves. He pushed his hand into the pocket containing the syringe and gripped its smooth glass form.

"I was given clearance to go to the records room," he said evenly. "From Mr. Boggs. We need a background check on patient 37-42."

"Really?" he asked skeptically as he bent down to check his charts. "I wasn't given notice from-"

Hohenheim struck during the man's momentary lack of attentiveness. He gripped onto the man shoulder with one hand and forced the needle into his flesh with the other. Within a few seconds, the man was down. He had hardly let out more than a yell of surprise.

Panicking slightly, Hohenheim quickly lifted the man and opened up a closet with the set of master keys from the guard's belt. He let the man fall to the ground and after a few moments of thought, Hohenheim grabbed the gun from the man's belt and placed it in his other pocket. After he hid the man from view with the help of a couple boxes and containers, Hohenheim locked them man inside and began to quickly walk away from the scene.

Hohenheim knew that the heavy sedative, which every scientist had easy access to, would probably cause the man to have no memory of what happened. He could only hope that that would happen. Striding quickly down the hall, he ended up at the records room within seconds.

There was only one guard at the door but Hohenheim had no idea if there were others, who had momentarily left the post. This would be tricky and would probably create some noise but he knew what he had to do.

"Stop and state your name and business," the guard growled as Hohenheim stepped forwards but when Hohenheim did none of what he was asked to do, the guard pulled a gun out at him. "I said state your name and business!"

Hohenheim stopped and placed his hands in both of his pockets; on hand felt the syringe while the other felt the heavy metal handgun. He really didn't want to use the gun, for it was both loud and crude, but he would if he had to.

"Business?" Hohenheim asked casually as he took a seemingly unnoticed half step. "Well, I am here in front of the records room." Another half step. "What do you think my business it?"

But before Hohenheim could get any closer, the man had pulled out his gun from his belt and aimed it at his chest.

"Now, I think you better stop messing around and tell me what you're doing here," the man said, "Or you can say goodbye."

Sighing heavily, Hohenheim quickly pulled out his hand holding the gun and pointed it at the guard, who looked surprised by the action.

"I really need to get in there and I'd rather not shoot you," Hohenheim said calmly. "If you'd just let me in, I won't be forced to hurt you as well."

The guard grinned before he reached outwards with his right hand towards a large red button that was attached to the wall, a few feet away from his. Panicking slightly, Hohenheim sprung forwards and brought the man down while forcing his hand containing the gun away from him. Dropping his own gun, Hohenheim reached into his pocket for the syringe and forced it into the guard's flesh as quickly as he could and pushed the plunger down, not focusing on how much sedative he was giving him. Within a matter of moments, the man stopped his struggling and went as limp.

Hoping again that no one heard the scuffle, Hohenheim fumbled with the keys for a few moments until he found the correct one and dragged the unconscious man inside with him before he slammed the door shut.

He knew he would only have a few minutes at best before another guard passed by and saw that the always guarded door was unguarded. Moving quickly, Hohenheim looked around for the file cabinet that might contain his son's information. After finding one that might be promising, Hohenheim found it locked and contemplated whether he should try and shoot the lock on it. But he knew that the damage would only raise more suspicious questions, he searched the keys again and eventually found the correct one.

"Come on, come on," he muttered hurriedly to himself as he searched the names of the man families that were currently under watch. "Where are you? Ah-ha!"

Feeling his pulse increase exponentially, Hohenheim grabbed the file labeled 'Elric, Edward' and opened it. In it were papers that looked like medical forms, school diplomas, and copies of checks along with many other official-looking documents. Finally, Hohenheim found the one that he was looking for and quickly skimmed it.

"Entered military thirtieth of March… stationed in Eastern command… sent out…" he whispered to himself as his fingers slid down the page, looking for the most important information. "Current location!"

Hohenheim stared at the four words printed in black ink and felt his head spin slightly. After a few moments of letting the information sink in, he realized he had to get out quickly.

Leaving the man inside of the records office, Hohenheim all but ran from the room while the words on the paper continued to run across his eyes. Finally, he reached the elevator and ran inside but he did not push a button.

What had been written on the paper had not been the worst that he had expected, which was the information that his son was dead, but it was still not a huge comfort as it gave no indication as to where Edward was.

_Location: Unknown. Missing in Action_

* * *

**... so all in all maybe not the most uplifting chapter.**

**But yes, I did it. I went and killed them and the others have no idea where Ed is but that's how I've been planning it for months I you can all deal with it. :P**

**I hope you send me a review even if you're mad at me for what I did and hopefully I'll be able to get the next chapter done soon. :)**

**Bye for now.**

**-FSK**


	29. Something Else

**Hey people's! Sorry for the wait, both me and my Beta is rather busy with school and shit.**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter and thanks again for my special beta who keeps my stories nice and filled with proper grammar! :D**

**So last chapter, Winry's parents got bumped off and Al's trying not to be experimented on. Let's see what happens next!**

* * *

Edward looked back at the small cement hut of a building and felt a pain in chest. Winry had been carried into the house a couple of hours ago and no one had had much word on her condition. While Edward wondered about the condition on his… he guessed his friend, the other began to work on their plan on where to go from here.

"The railroad station is only a few miles away. We could make it in half a day journey," Rollan said to Goran as he pointed to a spot on the map that was laid out in front of them.

"And there have been reports that security's gone up lately but I think we should be able to weasel out way onto one of the cargo trains headed north," Goran said, nodding in approval.

"Most trains are headed southwards; are you sure there will be one going north?"

"Yes," the large man answered, nodding. "See this line?" his stubby finger pointed to one of many blue lines on the map. "This one is always guaranteed to be heading north. No matter what."

"So we'll jump on this line and then what?" Rollan asked.

"Well doesn't your brother work up there? Can't he pull some strings to get us a place to stay?"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. I hear that his boss is some tyrannical bitch."

"Is she worse than having to deal with the threat of dying every day?"

"Maybe," he said with a shrug after a moment. "With the way my brother talks about her."

Edward turned away from the conversation and focused on the half-finished meal in his lap. He had eaten some but for once in his life, he had no appetite. Ed looked back up at the tiny and empty house and felt the chest pain again.

"Dammit," Ed grumbled before he scooped up the uneaten plate from near the kettle and began walking towards the house.

"What are you doing?" he heard Lan Fan ask.

"He's looking to get himself killed," Ling said behind him.

Ignoring them all, Ed gathered all of his nerves and moved towards the door, opened it, and stepped inside.

"Winry?"

It took less than a second to realize she was not on the top floor. Ed looked down and saw the trapdoor, wedged open, which made it easier for someone to open it. Ed bent down, set the food on the ground, and lifted the heavy door open again. Once the door was open, he could clearly hear sobs and whispers that could only belong to one person.

"Winry?" Ed repeated, grabbing the food and putting a foot onto the first rung of the ladder.

"G-g-go aw-way…"

Ignoring the girl's command, Ed continued down the ladder until his feet hit the ground. He then turned around and searched in the dark light for the source of the noises.

"Winry," he repeated quietly as he slowly made his way over to the distraught girl.

"I-I-I s-s-said g-g-go a-away!" she yelled before letting out a pitiful moan. "J-just l-leave m-m-m-me al-lone."

Edward had finally gotten close enough to the girl to take in her pitiful appearance. Winry was curled up in the back right corner of the room with her knees up against her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs. Her face was a blotchy waterfall and she continued to hiccup and sob while tears ran out of the corners of her extremely bloodshot eyes. Her entire body seemed to shake with sobs.

She was broken.

"G-go awa-ay," she sobbed before she buried her head in her arms. "L-l-leave me-e alo-o-ne…"

Ed let out a sigh before he set the food down on the ground, walked forwards until he was next to Winry, and then sat down next to her. Before Edward knew what was happening next, Winry had jumped into him and had her head buried in his chest with her small hands clenching the fabric of his shirt tightly. After a second of surprise, Ed wrapped her two mismatching arms around her and let her cry.

* * *

"What do you mean they don't know where Ed is?" Alphonse whispered urgently, gripping on the metal bars of his cell. "How could they not know? I thought you said they always know where someone is-"

"Calm down, Alphonse," Hohenheim said, trying to quiet his son, who was beginning to speak much too loudly for their own good; Hohenheim was not supposed to be down there in the cells and if anyone who knew that caught him talking to a bunch a prisoners, well, there would be some complications. "Well they have a pretty recent idea of where he last was so we'll just have to go off of that, alright?"

"…I guess," Al muttered, taking a step away from the bars.

"And once we get to Edward's last location, we can see if anyone knows where he went."

"Alright," Al nodded. "Where is he?"

"The last place they knew where he was on the front lines near the point where Amestris, Creta, and Aerugo meet up," Hohenheim answered. "That was about a month ago."

"And then what happened?" Al asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer. "Do you know why they can't find him?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "Your brother's given the slip somehow."

"Which is both a good and a bad thing," Russell comment from his seat behind them.

"Exactly."

"So what's out plan?" Al asked, his voice barely a whisper.

"I've been thinking about some things but I can't tell you right now," Hohenheim said in a rushed voice as he looked over both of his shoulders. "I'm risking everything just by coming down here now. I'll be back tomorrow though and then maybe we can talk about it then. Stay safe."

Hohenheim backed up and was several feet down the hall in seconds. Alphonse wanted to call his father back, to talk to him about their plan, to gain some ounce of comfort from him that he had so desperately been missing for years. But he knew better. Al knew that what his father said was right and that Hohenheim couldn't be seen around them too often or else people would get suspicious.

Al sighed and moved to sit back down on the bench between Mei and Fletcher. He felt both tired and awake and it was hard to decide which one he'd rather do: sleep or act.

"So… who wants to come up with an escape plan?" Russell asked, grinning slightly.

Alphonse looked at his friend and couldn't help but smile in return.

"I would love to but I have no idea where even the exit to this hallway is, let alone the exit to the building," Al said, smiling wearily. "We need my dad for this."

* * *

"It's alright," Ed responded, keeping his flesh arm looped around her back with his hand resting on her hip. "I really understand how it feels."

"I guess…" she hiccupped before curling back into Ed's chest as if she had done it a million time before.

"I actually do," Ed said, looking down at the blond, who refused to meet his eyes.

Edward had spent the last half an hour holding Winry as she sobbed, screamed, and cried on him while using Ed as a handkerchief. She had only started calming down a few minutes ago and Ed could tell she was felt embarrassed for her previous actions even though he really didn't mind. He remembered when he had found out his mother had died. He had wanted to just cry and cry while being held by someone but he didn't. He had to be strong for his brother and would not let Al catch him being weak. Ed envied Winry.

"My mother's dead," Ed said flatly. "She died when I was ten. And then my dad was gone within the year and I haven't seen him since."

"Oh…" Winry mumbled after a pause.

"So even though I guess I still technically have a parent left, I know what it's like to not have them…"

There was silence between them for a while. Then, after a few moments, Winry turned her head up to look up at Ed while Ed looked down at her. When their eyes met, they felt his stomach jolt slightly for some unknown reason.

Her eyes were so bloodshot that there was no white in Winry's eyes; they still shimmered in the dim light with unshed tears. Her skin was blotchy and tear-stained. She still gave the occasionally hiccup or sniff of her nose. Winry really looked pitiful right now.

And yet…

Ed felt the jolt of his stomach again and felt his heart skip slightly. He closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them and saw that Winry was still staring at him, he suddenly saw her in a different light.

Even though her eyes were bloodshot to the extreme, her iris's were still such a deep, beautiful blue. And even though her skin was blotchy at the moment, sections of it shimmered warmly in a few rays of light coming in from the tiny windows. And her sniffs and hiccups were more endearing than anything…

"…_I can tell you find her attractive…"_

As Ling's words rung throughout his head, Ed felt some unexplained force that seemed to move his head close to Winry's. But what was he going to do when he got there? Kiss her?

_But that's… that's just insane! _Ed thought as he quickly tried to keep his thoughts together. _Kiss Winry? She hates my guts! But then… but then why has she been sitting on my lap for the past half and hour? And she has been nicer to me lately…_

It was now or never. He noticed that Winry was beginning to move her own head closer to Ed's, in a hesitant and slightly unsure way like Ed. There lips were a little more than an inch away and they were now so close that, even in the dim lighting, Ed was sure he could easily count every eyelash around Winry's large, beautiful blue eyes.

"Winry?" came a voice from above; Rollan's. "Are you in here?"

Edward felt his heart race accelerate and in a matter of nano-seconds, a tidal wave of uncertainty and nerves hit him. What was he doing? Was this the right thing to do? Was he even sure this was what he wanted?

_I have no idea what I want anymore,_ Edward confessed to himself as he heard the footsteps overhead move towards the trapdoor.

He heard the creaking of the door and in a spilt-second decision, Ed moved his head away from the girl and loosed his grip on Winry. In the three very uncomfortable seconds that it took Rollan to get down the ladder, Ed could feel Winry's eyes on him. He knew that without looking at her that they were filled with anger and hurt feelings.

"Winry," Rollan said, sounding relieved. "Um… are you feeling better?"

"Yeah," she said thickly as she sprung up from Ed's lap before Rollan could get close enough to see them. "I'm… I guess I feel better."

"Well, we kinda need to strategize and we need to talk to the both of you for that. So if you don't mind-"

Winry was up the ladder and above them before Rollan could even finish the sentence. Rollan turned to look at Ed, who had stood up and was walking slowly towards the ladder.

"You cheer her up?" he asked.

"I don't know," Ed answered truthfully.

"Well… at least she had a shoulder to cry on," Rollan said, patting him on the back.

Feeling more confused than he had in a very long time, Ed climbed the ladder and moved silently through the tiny room towards the door. Outside, the tiny group was in a semi-circle, Goran in the middle with several maps laid out in front of him. Winry had taken a seat next to him and had a rather worrying expression on her face; one that was a mix of anger, hurt, and, of course, intense grieving.

Ed sat down next to Ling and watched as Rollan moved to the head of the group, next to Goran and Winry, and sat down. While Rollan began speaking, Ed's thoughts wondered. He thought of Rose and what it felt like when he was with her. In the beginning, there was something that Ed was sure was happiness that was later confused for love but near the end there was mainly contempt and sometimes a mild hatred.

He turned to look at Winry, who was avoiding his eyes. He thought of the sensation he had gotten in his stomach when he looked into her eyes. How there seemed to be a magnetic force between the two of them, bringing this lips closer and closer to them.

Ed had never felt that around Rose or any other girl he had ever met before. Could the feelings he felt be just another crush or possibly something else?

* * *

**Not a lot of Al-action in here but I think next chapter there will be more for sure. And *gasp* is Ed falling in love with Winry? And is Winry feeling the same things or was it just her emotions running high? Stick around and find out. :P**

**Please send a review my way and I'm gonna try and update next chapter sooner. :)**

**Bye!**

**-FSK**


	30. Schedule Shifts

**Uh, hey readers... if you're still out there...**

**Sorry for like the millionth time about my retarded updates. But that's Novemeber for you. If anyone cares, me and my wonderful editor Dani both broke 50,000 words during this years NaNoWriMo (if you don't know what it is, look it up) and you're free to check out this year's story info on the link on my profile. But hopefully, maybe, possibly, I'll have normal updates once more with this break coming up.**

**So... yeah, I started on this chapter like, two months ago... my bad. :[**

**But here it is! Better late then never right?  
**

* * *

The box car rattled horribly as it made its why up the train tracks. Fractions of moonlight shined through slits in the walls of the box car, illuminating small portions. Edward looked across from him and saw Rollan lying down, sleeping easily as if he were on the comfiest bed in the world, as apposed to sleeping on the hard wood of a train car. Ed strained his eyes and saw Winry, curled up in the corner, shivering slightly, which was understandable. High powered winds whipped into the box car from the small crevices that allowed in moonlight, chilling those who were unlucky enough to be sitting by one.

Edward peered out of a tiny slit, a few feet away from where he was sitting, and saw the moon, still high in the sky, which meant it must still be the middle of the night. He let out a shuddering sigh and rubbed his face with the palms of his hands.

"It was just a dream," Ed muttered to himself as scenes from his most-recent nightmare flashed before his eyes. "Calm down."

No matter what he did, every night, Ed seemed to be plagued by nightmares. There was nothing that he could think of that might stop his affliction and after he woke up from the nightmares, he always found it difficult to fall back asleep. On the rare occasions when he was able to get back to sleep, Edward was once again plagued by visions of bombs bursting in air, people's screams, and blood. Always blood.

"Forget about it," Ed ordered himself after he had closed his eyes in an attempt at sleep and saw only crimson. "You're going to be fine. Nothing can hurt you now."

Ed knew that both of these statements were lies and he had no idea why he was bothering with telling himself these things. He wasn't a small child who could be easily dissuaded with calming but empty words. He knew that many things could happen to him right now, and he wouldn't be surprised if something bad did happen soon, and of course things could hurt him. Clearly, Edward was loosing his mind.

Edward shifted in the box car as the train made a wide turn on its tracks. He shook his head and tried to calm his mind with more rational thinking.

Edward was on a train headed north. Yesterday afternoon, Goran and Rollan had informed the group that they would be heading to a base in the north where Rollan's brother worked and who would be able to keep them safe.

"_They're experimenting with automail up there too," _he had informed them earlier._ "So all of you post-ops can have a check up and make sure everything's working correctly."_

Goran informed them of the plan to make it towards the train station and sneak onto a box car headed north, which in reality, sounded pretty easy compared to everything else Ed had done lately. However, Goran had stated that they would need a way to tell those of whom who were on their way to the safe house where they were going. People suggested letters or radio signals but the two men informed them that not every group had a radio and letters could easily be ruined or misplaced.

"_What we need is someone to stay behind," he said steadily. "You'll be able to join us all again soon but for the time being, it would be best to have someone here."_

_There was a moment of silence before there was movement. Ed turned and saw Ling standing up with Lan Fan slowly getting up behind him._

"_We will stay," he said._

"_What?" Ed asked, surprised; Ling turned and smiled down at Ed._

"_It's the best thing for us. We need to stay safe for a while, away from war. What better place than a safe house?"_

_Ed stared up at Ling for a moment before turning away. Ling then addressed Goran and Rollan, who also looked slightly surprised at the foreigner's willingness to stay behind._

"_You people, you automail engineers, have been so kind to me and Lan Fan. We would be pleased to help you in any way," Ling said before bowing towards the two men. "We are in your debt."_

Edward stared around the nearly empty car and suddenly missed the two foreigners who had been their traveling partners for so long. He wondered whether he would ever see them again. When they were about to leave for the train station, Ling had said that he was sure that they would meet again but there wasn't much proof in those words.

Not knowing what else to do, Ed turned his head and stared at the young blond woman, who continued to shiver in her sleep. After a moment of debate, Edward got up, his automail knee aching slightly, and hobbled over towards the girl. He picked up the blanket that had somehow moved away from her and readjusted it so that the blanket was covering her. The shivering slowed and when they stopped, Ed returned to his seat on the opposite side of the car.

Edward stared down at his lap and felt his ever present worrying tugging at his conscious. He thought of Alphonse… was he alright? Where the hell was he? Was he in Xing, safe from all of this war…?

_But Ling said there was a war going on in Xing too, _Ed thought, feeling panic fill him.

"He'll be fine," Ed said to himself. "He got through a desert and got out of one war, he can get out of another."

_But you have no idea whether Al ever made it to Xing,_ he reminded himself, feeling his heart rate increase to an alarming rate. _You don't even know if he's alive! He could be dead, being eaten by buzzards with the others._

"Stop it," Ed hissed to himself angrily.

His mind, worsened by all that he had seen in the war, forced him to imagine gruesome pictures of Al, Russell, and Fletcher lying in the desert sun in varying degrees of decomposition. He could almost _smell _the rotting flesh. Edward felt bile rising in his throat and quickly tried to clean the images and the imaginary smell from his mind. He sucked in several chilly breaths and eventually felt himself calm down. He tipped his head back and rested it against the wall behind him and stared up at the dark ceiling, hoping it would relive him of some of the feelings he was feeling. Unfortunately, Edward knew that probably the only thing that would instill calm back in him would be seeing his brother and friends, whole, happy, and alive.

* * *

"So you'll be switching with the person who's planning on taking Mei?" Alphonse asked his father quietly, staring at him through the bars of the cell.

"Yes," Hohenheim whispered, glancing at the end of the hall through the corner of his eye. "And then I'll keep her in my lab room while I go and try and find a master key to break all of you out."

"And what if you can't switch?" Russell asked, glancing at the small dark-haired teen, who seemed to be thinking deeply. "What if she gets taken and she gets experimented on?"

"I'll take care of it," Hohenheim said urgently. "If I have to, I guess I could think of something to detain the guard that'll come to take you but that would be extremely risky at best."

"And then what will happen once you actually break us all out?" Al asked as quietly as he could, not wanting anyone to hear him say those words out loud. "Where do we go from there?"

"I'm still working on it," Hohenheim admitted, staring nervously down the hall once again. "But we've got some time still."

"Not a lot," Al said shakily, glancing over to Mei once again; it was Saturday and they had until tomorrow night to think of a plan that would get them all out of there.

"Yes well, I'm sure we'll think of something before that," Hohenheim sighed, suddenly looking very old.

Hohenheim then looked down at his wrist watch for a second before looking back up at Al with slightly worried eyes.

"I've got to go," he said. "I'll come back here as soon as I can."

"Alight," Al said, but Hohenheim was already ten feet away.

Alphonse then turned around and sat down next to Fletcher on the last unoccupied spot on the bench. His mind was spinning slightly from all the thinking and worrying that was involved in the planning of escaping this prison.

"What if we could start like, a riot or something?" Russell suggested. "Like, what if your dad could steal the master key or something and break everyone out? It would be chaos."

"Be a lot harder to capture everyone," Fletcher muttered.

"Or maybe they'd just kill all of us without a care in the world," Al sighed, his head pounding with a horrid headache. He let out a heavy sigh and rubbed his tired face wit his hands. "I'm sure everyone who's ever been in this hell has tried to think of a way out and no one's gotten out."

"Yeah but no one's been as smart as us," Fletcher said in an attempt to bring up their spirits.

"And probably nobody has had inside help before," Russell added, trying to cheer up his downtrodden friend.

"Yeah well, I think we'd need a miracle to get out of here," Al muttered, bringing his hands away from his face and staring down onto the concrete flooring of their cell.

Russell and Fletcher exchanged worried looks. They could not remember the last time they had seen their friend this down and depressed and it was strange to see the usually positive teen so low.

"We don't need a miracle," Russell said, ignoring his worry for his friend away. "We need a solid plan."

"I think a little dumb luck would be helpful too," Al said, smiling sadly in spit of himself.

"That's the spirit," Russell said with a slightly forced laugh.

* * *

"How many days does it take to get up there again?" Edward asked tiredly as he stared blankly across the box car hours later. He felt absolutely exhausted since he had not slept properly in a few days but the hunger in his stomach would not let him even attempt sleep.

"Seven days," Winry sighed, looking almost as worn out as Ed felt. He could not help but notice the dark circles under her eyes, the slight bloodshot quality to her eyes, and the paleness of her skin. She probably did not have a very good night either.

"And how many days have we been on the damn train," Ed asked even though he knew the answer. He just felt like complaining for once.

"Almost one," Rollan answered as he took a small sip of water from his bottle.

They had each been given a bag of provisions but anyone could tell that the amount they had been given had would not be enough to last for a week without rationing it. Edward had only touched a few crackers and took a few sips of water. If he had gained anything from his trek towards the safe house, it was that he knew how to ration and knew that he could deal with not eating at all for a day.

"Great," Ed muttered with a sigh, leaning his head against the wall.

Ed shifted his left leg slightly and received a strong and painful twinge that would not have usually bothered him but he had not been expecting it so he let out an involuntary hiss, gaining attention from the others around him.

"What is it?" Winry asked, carefully making her way over to him.

"My knee," Ed answered. "It's nothing really. Just a little sore."

Winry reached out and pulled up Ed's pant leg to inspect the metal knee. Ed could see a bit of inflamed skin peaking out from the bandage that wrapped around the connection of metal and flesh. With gentle fingers, Winry prodded and moved around the leg, earning the occasional spurt of pain from Ed, but he did not let any noise or complaint out this time.

"You need to try and move around your limbs more," she decided, sitting straight again and looking up at him. "Has your shoulder been hurting at all?"

"A little, I guess," Ed muttered, placing his flesh hand on his shoulder and rubbing it carefully.

"Well I think we're going to have to try and start up your rehabilitation again," she said with a half-hearted smile.

"And here I thought traveling non-stop for days on end was enough rehab," Ed said with a sigh and a roll of his eyes.

"Nope," Winry said, moving a bit away from Ed so that they were several feet away now. "You need to keep moving it for a few months on end or else your wounds won't heal right."

"And do you expect me to do laps in this train car?" he asked, knowing that he would probably be forced to at least attempt a lap in this car, which was a great feat when one had two fully functioning legs.

"Of course you are," Winry answered before she quickly transferred back into her drill sergeant mode. "Get up and show me five laps around here now."

"Are you serious?" Ed asked in outrage, feeling the number was rather high.

"I don't joke around about these things," Winry said, sitting back down on the opposite side of the box car, crossing her arms across her chest. "Get up and show me what you got."

Edward turned and exchanged glances with Rollan, who smiled sadly and shrugged, Goran, who gave him a stern look which meant that he should get up and do what he was told, and a few of the quiet patients, who all looked a little frightened by Winry, before he sighed and began trying to get up. Ed pushed himself onto all fours and then slowly and carefully got up off of the shaking ground. After a few minutes of this, he found himself standing up, his knee already sending small shocks of pain with each quiver of the train.

"Let's go, let's go!" Winry ordered. "Or can you not move anymore?"

Edward turned way from her and scowled, feeling a strong surge of deviancy push through him as he wished for nothing but to get these five laps done with easily and watch as Winry's smug expression slipped off of her face.

_You can do this_, Ed told himself as he stared at the moving ground. _No problem_.

Edward nodded and with great trepidation, he took his right foot off of the ground and planted it firmly a couple inches away from his left. He then lifted his left foot up and one the metal appendage had cleared the ground, he felt the entire box car lurch as it turned and he fell flat on his face.

"Five laps!" Winry shouted as Ed pushed himself from the ground, feeling extremely annoyed with the train and everyone inside of it. "Come on! You can do better than that!"

* * *

"Which way would be best once we get out of here?" Al asked quietly as they stared at the map of Central and the surrounding area they had scratched onto the floor of the cell.

"Any where that's away from here," Russell stated. "Why does it matter?"

"Because we need to get south and-"

"How are we even going to get out of Central?" Fletcher asked, looking up at the older boys. "It's not like we could just walk out of here."

"We could hijack a car," Russell muttered. "I know how to hot-wire a car if nothing else."

"Yeah but-"

All conversation in the cell stopped at the noise of the harsh metal door opening which was followed by the noises of footsteps slowly making their way down the hallway. As the footsteps got closer and closer, Al hoped that it was his father, coming to tell him he had figured everything out even if he knew that was a long shot. Thinking of how few people ever came this far back towards their cell, Alphonse convinced himself that it was indeed his father and got up quickly to see him.

"Hello, maggots."

It was not his father but one of the guards, wearing a nasty expression as he sneered at them all. Al jumped back slightly, not wanting to be so close to the horrid man.

"What are you doing here?" Al asked before he could stop himself.

"Change of plans," the guard said lazily as he pulled out a loop of keys to unlock the door. He then pointed the desired key into the cell and said, "Your playtime had been moved up. We've come for the foreigner."

Everyone turned and stared at Mei, who looked like a deer caught in headlights as she stared up at the man. She did not move and no one else did for a moment, all too shocked and confused to think of anything to do.

"Now!" the man barked, his voice ringing.

Mei stood up, shaking slightly, but her face was set and did not show fear. As she took a step forwards, Al stepped in front of her and glared at the man.

"No," he said strongly.

"I'm afraid it's not your turn, boy," the man said. "We need the girl now. But I promise you that I will be back for you later."

"No!" Al growled. "Why can't you just take me? Why her?"

Al opened his mouth to yell even more, maybe in an attempt to buy them just seconds more time, which might be enough time for his father to get down there and stop everything, but stopped when he felt a small warm hand placed on his back.

"Alphonse," Mei said quietly. "That is enough."

"Mei," Al muttered as he turned around and stared at the girl, who was now staring at the floor, refusing to meet his eyes. He noted that she was still shaking rather badly.

"I'll be fine," she said confidently in her quiet voice. "Just let me go."

Al stared down at the girl, confused, for a moment before he nodded and stepped away. He watched as Mei lifted her head up, he noted that her face seemed to be rather red, maybe from nerves, and walked stiffly towards the man, who was grinning as if he were watching a rather amusing show.

"Good girl," he said once Mei reached the bars; this statement for some reason irked Al and made him want to attack the guard even more now.

The three blond boys watched as the door opened and Mei walked outside of the cell. The guard slapped a pair of handcuffs on her slim wrists and grinning at them one more time before he gave Mei a hard push and forced her down the hall.

It was silent for some time in the cell as they listened to the sounds of the guards hard footsteps and Mei lift one. Only when the sound of the metal door slamming rang down the hall, did anyone say anything.

"So what do we do now?" Russell asked blankly, looking at Al, who was still standing in the center of the cell, staring at the place where Mei had just been moments before. "Al?"

Al's head fell and he stared at the ground for a while before he whispered in an almost inaudible tone, "I don't know."

* * *

**Dun-Dun-Duh! **

**I'll try and get this up soon... hopefully I can give it to you as a Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/Wintery present for you all. :)**

** Thanks for reading and sticking with me for THIRTY CHAPTERS though all my dumb-ass lapses in not updating.**

**-FSK  
**


	31. Prison Break

**Hello everyone! :D Yay! I managed an update in a reasonable amount of time!**

**So thank you to everyone who read or sent me a review last chapter, I appreciate it. And I wanna give a super huge thank you to my lovely beta for her amazingly fast editing! :D You're awesome, Dani!**

**Last time, Mei was taken and now we'll see how everyone reacts to it.  
**

* * *

"We need to get out of here," Alphonse said suddenly, a few minutes after Mei had been taken from the cell to be experimented on.

Russell and Fletcher looked up and stared at Al from their seats on the bench, not knowing how to really respond to the teenager.

"But how?" Fletcher asked after a pause, glancing at his brother, who shrugged, not knowing what to say.

"I don't know," Al said, staring out into the empty corridor. "We just need to get the hell out of here before… before who knows what happens to Mei."

"Do you think your dad knows by now?" Russell asked. "Or maybe your dad was able to switch with the nut-job who was going to perform on Mei and everything's fine."

"No," he said, shaking his head slowly. "Dad would tell me if that was going to happen. He wouldn't do this to me. To us."

"What if he couldn't find the time to-"

"My dad would find the time, Russell!" Al shouted angrily, turning to glare at his friends. "He would let me know that everything was going to be fine! And since he hasn't, everything is clearly not fine!"

"You know, Al," Russell started calmly, "it's great that you're dad's here and trying to help us and all but I think you're putting a little too much store in a person who's just reappeared after not seeing for years."

"And it was his fault he had to leave and not come back?" Al yelled, feeling defensive over his father. "He would have come back if he could and he's trying everything to get us out of here!"

Upset and feeling completely out of control, Al turned and kicked the metal bars of the cell as hard as he possibly could, not caring about the pain which resonated in his leg later. He let out a yell of frustration and after a rather long moment spent breathing heavily, he slid to the ground, his face only a few inches from the metal bars.

"We need to figure a way out of here," Al said once again in a more firmer voice, hoping that maybe this time, his friends would back him up and help him try and think of a way out.

"We needed a way out of here ten minutes ago," Russell said bitterly, which only succeeded in grating on Al's patience.

"If you're not going to say anything helpful, I'd really appreciate it if you just shut up," Al snapped.

"Al, you dad might have taken care of everything already," Fletcher said quietly. "You might not have anything to worry about."

"I've been doing nothing but worrying ever since Ed left," Al sighed, running his hands through his messy hair. "And I won't stop worrying until we're out of here and I know where Ed is."

Al let out a shaky breath and was thankful when neither of his friends tried to comfort him with empty words on how his brother was probably safe at the moment when in all reality, Ed could very easily be dead right now.

"We need my dad," Al said as calmly as he could. "We need to get him down here and we need to come up with a plan. _Now_."

* * *

Hohenheim stared at the chart on the wall, his heart skipping a beat due to fear and nerves. There had been a change. His son's cell was on schedule for tonight and if everything went correctly, the guard would have been sent down just a minute ago. Maybe he would have time to stop things before one of them got hurt.

Turning, Hohenheim rushed down the nearest hallway and began making his way towards the area where the cells were kept, hoping that he would run into the guard escorting whoever to room listed on the board. If nothing else, Hohenheim assumed he could send a bogus message to the message room and stop the scientist assigned to the room leave momentarily, which might possibly leave him an opening. It was all rather risky and every option he thought of came with a strong possibility that it would not work.

_You have to try_, he told himself as he blew past a group of men dressed in white lab coats, who looked startled by Hohenheim's fast walking. _You need to be there for Alphonse now. You need to prove he can still depend on you._

Hohenheim jammed his key into the lock of a door, which lead to the stairs that went to the cells and held his breath, hoping to see the guard with possibly his son or one of Al's friends so that he would be able to stop them and save them all from this horrible place. He pushed open the door and held his breath, daring to hope.

* * *

Mei tripped slightly as the man pushed her in front of him down a number of dimly lit hallways. Her arms, where were held together but rather thick handcuffs, were behind her back and were stuck in the vice grip of the man's hands. One would think she was trapped and on her way to certain doom by her terrified expression but inside, she was grinning happily.

She had a plan.

Mei was grateful that it had been her who had been chosen to go because this way, her plan could come into action. She did not know exactly why she chose to keep the plan to herself, maybe because she thought they still had time to come up with a different one, or maybe because Alphonse would not like it.

Alphonse… her heart skipped a beat or two at the thought of the young man, with his warm golden brown eyes and sweet smile. She felt her knees wobble uncertainly for a moment but she reluctantly pushed the image out of her head. Now was not the time to enjoy her dumb fan-girl fantasies. She had a mission to do.

"Xiao Mei," Mei breathed as forced her foot to scuff loudly on the floor in an attempt to block out her voice.

Mei held her breath as she felt movement in her pocket and bite down on her lip so that she would not start laughing. Xiao Mei really had to start learning when and when not to tickler her.

She glanced down and saw a pair of tiny dark eyes staring up at her from inside of her deep pocket. Taking a deep breath, Mei nodded her head and hoped that her secret plan would work.

Xiao Mei leaped from Mei's pocket, latched onto her arm, and then crawled to her back where she moved to the man's hands and-

"OW!" the man screamed, letting go of Mei.

Mei turned around in time to see the man wave his hand in the air in an attempt to throw off the tiny black and white creature who was biting him with all of its power. Seeing that the man was distracted, Mei swung her leg upwards where it connected with the side of the man's head. He felt to the ground, completely caught off guard.

"Ha! That's what you get when you mess with Princesses Mei and Xiao Mei of Xing!" Mei shouted victoriously at the sight of the man lying on the ground, clearly unconscious from the blow Mei had dealt him.

Her celebration was cut short, however, at the noises from above. Was someone coming down the hallway? Mei tried to see if she could see a door anywhere down the seemingly endless hallway but she did not see anyone. She felt her heart jump into her throat at the sound of a door opening.

"Xiao Mei! Find the keys! Quick!" Mei whispered to the tiny animal as it ran to the back of the man and located the ring of keys he had. Mei looked over her shoulder cautiously before she saw the sheer amount of keys. She quickly tried to form a picture of the key used to lock her into the handcuffs. "Um, it was a little gold key, right? Or maybe a brass one? It wasn't silver. Right?"

Xiao Mei squeaked as it stared up at its master with wide, fearful eyes. Panicking, Mei frantically searched for a place to hide in but found nothing. The hallway was barren. The door they had just come through had a lock on it and would need a key to get through but she had no idea what key would be needed, and there was a similar problem if they chose to go forwards.

"Shit," Mei muttered as Xiao Mei fumbled with stubby paws over the many different key possibilities. A thick gold key stuck on in Mei's mind as her little companion passed over it. "No, that one! No, not that one, the one next to it! Yeah! Try that one!"

Mei felt Xiao Mei's tiny clawed paws scratch their way up her back and onto her arms, where Mei tried to stay as still as possible while the tiny creature forced the key into the slot as best as it could and turned it with all its might. With a clatter much louder than Mei had expected, the hand cuffs fell to the floor. She was freed!

"Now let's go back and try and unlock the boys from their cells," Mei instructed to her tiny companion before Xiao Mei hoped into the large pocket.

Mei lifted her foot from the ground in preparation to run when she heard the noise. The unmistakable noise that came from the heavy metal doors opening. It was coming from behind her. Her heart rate quickened as a pair of feet began making their way down the hallway as fast as they could carry them.

What was there to do? It only sounded like one person, which she could most likely take out in a matter of a few hits. But she felt if one security guard went down along with another person and the bodies began stacking up, wasn't it likely that someone would come down here to see what the hell was going on? But it wasn't like there was anyplace to hide in time and even if she managed to get to the end of the hall, pick the right key, and hide there, there would still be the guard's unconscious body to deal with. She would just have to fight who ever was coming down.

Hohenheim ran as quickly as his body would allow him while he forced his ears to pick up on anything but the slapping of his feet on the hard ground. He could swear he hear someone and he could only hope that it was the guard he was looking for.

_What is that_? Hohenheim asked himself as he rounded a corner and saw the odd shape of what appeared to be a man lying on the ground. Next to him stood what appeared to be a tiny person and possibly a ball or something next to that person. Whoever it was, they did not appear to be scientist or guard. He slowed his pace.

"Mr. Hohenheim?" asked a small, female voice from several feet away.

He did not recognize the voice but when he got closer, he knew exactly who it was. It was the girl that came in with Alphonse and his friends, Mei. He stopped and stared at the floor, where the unconscious guard lay. Surprised, he looked at the small young woman and could only assume that it was her doing but the idea of it still seemed implausible for one so small.

"Did you do this?"

"Yes," Mei answered boldly and without hesitation. She then lifted up a thick metal ring filled with keys. "I also have this."

Hohenheim took the ring of keys from the young woman and inspected them all carefully. There were the usual keys to cells, lab rooms, equipment rooms, but there was one key that stood out amount the rest.

It was a single prong key and made out of some almost white metal. He knew it, although he had never seen it before. He felt his heart beat a little faster at the sight of the magnificent key.

"What is it, Mr. Hohenheim?" Mei asked tentatively, noticing the man's sudden change.

"It's the master key," he said in an almost hushed voice.

Hohenheim glanced down at the guard once again in mild confusion. He looked normal enough, but how had he gotten access to the key? It was not like they had them on every standard key ring. If they did, well, he would have been able to plan his escape in a matter of minutes of arriving in this horrible place. Hohenheim kicked the man on the ground so that he was lying on his back and saw that he was no ordinary guard, by one of the top three commanders who gave feedback directly to the head of the operation. These guards hardly ever came down here. People with access to such valuable items rarely ever strayed out of the watchful eyes above them. Someone would notice he had not returned to his post soon enough. They had to get out of there.

"Mei," Hohenheim said as he began fumbling with the advanced key, needing it off of the ring, "go back down to the cells, go back to the boys and tell them that we're getting out of here. You'll need this," he held up a small silver key, "and this," he then picked out a large worn bass key, "to get back."

Hohenheim finally managed to snap off the much-desired key and then tossed the ring back to Mei.

"And what do we do after that?" she asked in a whisper.

"I'm going to go up to the control room, break in, and insert the master key so I can unlock everything in this horrid place. Then you and all the other prisoners will have to run down this hallway and up the stairs and to freedom."

"What about like, all the guards and scientists?" Mei asked in a whisper. "And what about you? You can't possibly get through all the guards in the control room! I should come help you!"

"No, I'll be fine," Hohenheim reassured her. "You need to inform the others of this."

"But I can do both! Just give me five seconds and I'll be back-"

"No, Mei, we're running out of time as it is," he said sternly. "They'll know something's up soon enough and if I have a chance, I need to go right now."

"But-"

"Go!"

Knowing that she should listen to what the man was saying, Mei turned and began sprinting down the hallway, back towards the cells. She just hoped this plan would work.

* * *

Hohenheim was back up to the next level within a few seconds with the adrenaline pumping through his system. Trying his best to look simply in a hurry instead of hell bent on reaching the control room within thirty seconds, Hohenheim raced through the halls, up three levels of steps and then down a dimly lit hallway where he finally slowed his steps so that they would not make a sound. Finally, he reached the dark room filled with many lighted screens that lighted the faces in the room many odd colors.

Four… there were four of them in there and only one of his. Maybe it was a bit foolish to deny Mei's offer so quickly. But no, Mei needed to instruct the boys and it was not something that he could wait for. The man reached into his lab coat and felt the thick syringe that held a strong sedative. Ever since he had broken into the records room, he had chose to carry around the sedative, not knowing when one might need it. With one hand holding the syringe and the other holding the key, Hohenheim opened the door.

* * *

"Mei?" Al asked in complete shock as he stared at the sight of the young women standing outside of the cell, alone, unharmed, and with a large ring of keys in her hand. "What did you…? How did you…?"

"We can't talk now," she said in a slightly breathless voice as she placed a key in the lock and opened up the cell door. "But long story short, I knocked out the guard, and then your father found me and now he is on his way to the control room to break everyone in here out."

"Wait, how?" Russell asked. "Because if he could have done that a long time ago, that would have been way more helpful."

"There was a master key on the guards ring or something and he can't just like, steal a master key."

"You mean like how he just stole a master key two seconds ago?" Russell asked.

"Never mind that!" Al yelled in slight exasperation before he turned to look at Mei. "And we're seriously all going to get out of here in a few minutes?"

"Yeah."

"How?" Fletcher asked.

"Well, it's going to be a little hard because we have to go down that hallway and up the stairs and through the hall where the experiments are taking place and then we have to get through the courtyard but-"

"Um, am I the only who thinks that that is a tall order?" Russell asked, looking more than a little worried.

"It's the best we can do," Fletcher reminded his brother.

"But won't the guards or even some of the scientists have like, guns or something that they'll use to just mow us all down when we try and stampede out of here?"

"Remember what my dad said?" Al asked. "Not all the scientists want to be here so there might be some who are trying to help us out of here."

"Or some who are trying to save their own skin and get out of here."

"Just prepare yourself," Mei said before she turned her head towards the cell as a loud clanging filled the entire cell block.

The doors were opening. Hohenheim had gotten to the control room and managed unlock them all. But for how long?

"Come on!" Al yelled, grabbing his friends as he ran towards the exit. "Everyone! Run! Get out of here!"

He didn't need to tell some prisoners twice. Those whose cells were by the door were already out and running down the hall with reckless abandon. There were some prisoners who stayed in their cells, probably because they were too beaten and abused to move properly. Al caught a glance at a few and instantly wanted to stop so that he could try and help them, but Russell shook his head at him and forced him onwards.

_I'm sorry,_ he thought as he ran with a large group of others. _I'm sorry we couldn't help you._

Edward's face came into Al's mind and the guilt was pushed aside but not away completely. He needed to find his brother and make sure he was safe. He did not want to sound mean, but Edward's safety really did matter much more to him than any of these helpless strangers.

The door leading to the stairs was open and as Al and his friends stepped onto the hall, complete pandemonium surrounded him and he knew that it would take much more to get out of here and probably anyone could have thought.

* * *

**Will they all be able to escape? Hmmm, well, I know but I wonder what you think. :P**

**Next chapter I'm pretty sure there will be some Ed action but I needed to focus on Al for once since Ed's just sitting in a train right now.**

**Thanks for reading, please send me a review, and I hope everyone had a happy holiday! :)**

**-FSK  
**


	32. The Great Release

**Hey there everyone! :D**

**Guess what? It was my birthday yesterday! :D **

**But thank you to everyone who read and reviewed last chapter and thank you, once again, my amazing editor, Dani. :)**

**So, Al and everyone are trying to break out. Let's read what happens next.**

* * *

Alphonse stared with wide eyes as patients ran around the open hallways with security guards and doctors chasing after them. He heard screams and yells and the faint wailing of some alarm going off and even the noise of gunshots in the background. How the hell were they going to get out of there? Alphonse was forced into reality as a patient slammed into his shoulder as he ran past him towards the exit.

"We've got to get out of here!" Russell yelled over the din.

"We need to find my dad!" Al yelled as he tried to search through the chaos in hopes of finding his father.

"We can look for him when we're outside!" his friend yelled. "Don't you think your father would understand you leaving him?"

"We need to get out of here!" Fletcher shouted at Al.

Al looked down at Mei, who seemed to be ready to spring out at any moment. The small girl glanced up at him and gave him a stiff nod, telling him to move on.

_You need to get out of here,_ Al told himself. You _need to get out of here and find Ed. Go._

"Right," Al said with a nod before her reached out and gripped Mei and Russell's hand; he watched Russell grip his brother's hand out of the corner of his eye. "Let's get out of here."

Together, the four ran forwards into the pandemonium and hoped with all of their might that today they might be freed from this place.

* * *

Hohenheim pulled the gun from the belt of the last guard he had knocked out and placed it in his lab coat. With a gun in each hand, Hohenheim pushed open the door and ran out into the hall. He needed to get downstairs right now or else Alphonse might be gone already.

Someone would realize it was him who had did this. Someone had to have seen him come up here, where he should not be, and someone would put two and two together and they would be up here to arrest and probably kill him.

"Hey!"

Hohenheim skidded to a halt at the sight of a guard. He stowed his hands behind his back to hide the guns from the approaching guard and did his best to look unassuming.

"Yes?" Hohenheim asked a little breathlessly.

"Do you have any idea what's going down downstairs?" the guard asked, sounding furious. "Someone opened all the cells and rooms and all the maggots are running around!"

"Are they?" he asked while he hoped he sounded convincing. "How… how did it happen?"

"Well I just came up here to check out the control room so that I could see who did it but there doesn't seem to be anyone up here," the guard said as his voice slowly lost some of its anger. "Have you seen anyone up here who might've been able to do that?"

"Me? No. I haven't even been down there."

"Well then, what exactly were you doing up here?"

"I was getting something from the supplies," Hohenheim fabricated. "I heard the alarm go off before I could get what I needed and I was running to see what was going on when you stopped me."

The guard stared hard at Hohenheim and Hohenheim stared back, determined not to blink to seem guilty of anything. He knew that his opportunity to escape was slipping like sand through his fingers with each passing second.

_Just shoot him,_ Hohenheim thought after a moment. _You need to get out of here and he probably doesn't believe you anyhow. Someone will realize it was you and you'll be in trouble even if you don't shoot him._

Hohenheim watched as the guards hard expression slowly shifted to a sneer and he knew what he had to do. Hohenheim pulled one of his hands from behind his back and before the man even knew what was going on, he pulled the trigger.

The guard, clutching his bleeding shoulder, fell to the ground where he lay in pain. Before the guard could even yell, Hohenheim kicked him as hard as he could in his stomach and grabbed his gun and ring of keys off of his belt; they might come in handy.

Hohenheim ran down the rest of the hall way and down the several flights of steps until he reached the pandemonium of the main floor. Patients ran for the exits and ran from guards who were now shooting freely while scientists tried to lock up their rooms, which would not close because of the master key, which was still in the lock.

He needed to find Alphonse and his friends right now. No one spared him more than a passing glance as he stood there but it would only be a matter of time before someone wondered why he was not doing anything.

"Alphonse!" Hohenheim yelled with all of his might as he made his way towards where Alphonse and his friends would have come from. "Alphonse!"

"Dad!"

Hohenheim turned to his right and saw, through a crowd of people, his son linked together with the rest of his friends. Hohenheim pushed through people and ran towards the group while he continued to yell his son's name.

"Dad!" Alphonse yelled as he caught sight of his father.

Hohenheim tore his eyes away from his son's face for a moment to stare behind the boy and at the newest threat. A guard stood behind them with a gun raised at the clump of teenagers. Not even pausing to think, Hohenheim raised one of his own guns and shot the guard; the man fell to the ground, dead.

Al turned with wide eyes and stared at the man he had just shot. He looked scared and a little shocked but he pushed it away as he turned back to his father.

"We need to get out of here," Al said, his voice shaking slightly.

"Take this," Hohenheim said as he handed Alphonse one of his guns; Al took it hesitantly without much complaint but he looked as if the gun was causing him pain just by holding it. Hohenheim then handed out a gun to the two other boys and the small, young woman. "Follow me and only shoot when you need to."

Hohenheim then took off down the greatly filled passageway, taking out two more guards who were trying to contain a number of patients, and hoped with all of his might that today would be the day that he might breathe fresh air and be free once more.

* * *

Edward's eyes flew open wide and he stared at the ceiling of the boxcar while he tried to force his breathing and heartbeat to slow down. It was not working out well because even after over a minute, there was no improvement.

Ed had woken up for a few reasons. For one, his stomach was roaring for food and if it were not for the extreme exhaustion he had been suffering from, his stomach would have probably woken him up hours earlier. Secondly, his body was bruised and inflamed and extremely soar from his time working out today and with every little shake from the boxcar, more pain shot through him. Not only did his automail ports absolutely scream with pain but his flesh hand, knee, shoulder, and face hurt from the number of times he had fallen to the ground forcefully. Lastly, there were the nightmares. No matter how much he tried to push them all away, they kept coming back to haunt him. There was the blood and the screams of pain from the dying and those who he had killed with the bullets he had shot willingly from his gun. People's faces were brought to his mind as his mind forced him to picture them all dead and being cooked by the hot sun while being picked apart by buzzards: goofy Jean, serious Major Mustang, kind and helpful Captain Hughes, even quiet Riza, the sniper.

"Stop it," Ed growled to himself as he pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes in an attempt to stop the images from surfacing. When that did not work, he raised his voice and yelled even louder, not caring who heard. "STOP IT!"

"Ed?"

Ed pulled his hands away from his face and turned towards the soft voice coming from the corner. Winry sat upright with her eyes wide and awake as she held up a lantern to illuminate the dark boxcar. Had she been awake all this time?

"It's nothing," Ed said angrily as he turned away from her; he did not want to discuss anything to anyone right now and he was still angry with Winry for forcing him to run around the wobbly boxcar today.

"Is it your automail?" Winry asked as she got up and walked quietly toward him, stumbling slightly as the car shifted. She sat down next to him and curled her legs underneath her body. Edward did not acknowledge her and hoped that maybe if he ignored her, she would go away. "Or was it another nightmare?"

This simple question, for some reason, struck a nerve in Edward's brain and caused a flame of hate to flare up inside of him. He turned and glared at Winry, who looked concerned and calm.

"It's none of your business if I had a nightmare or not," Ed spat, knowing in the back of his mind that his anger was misdirected at Winry. "Just go and leave me alone."

Like usual, Winry did not do as Ed wished her to do. Instead of leaving him alone, she sat the lantern on the floor, turned it off, and scooted a little closer to Ed. They sat there for a moment in silence before she talked.

"You know, I've had nightmares before," Winry said quiet as she pulled her legs out and brought her knees to her chest; Ed noted in the back of his mind that she did this a lot. "I've seen things too. I mean, I doubt I've seen what you've seen or done what you've done but, it still bothers me a lot."

Ed kept his back to her but continued to listen, wondering just how much she had seen, seeing as she had been there in the war zone for much longer than he had. Winry kept talking in her soft voice so that no one else would hear them.

"I've killed before," Winry muttered, causing Ed to turn his head and stared at the blonde-haired person over his shoulder. "Well, not on purpose that is. I accidentally killed two people when I gave them their automail. They couldn't take it. It was too harsh on them."

Ed thought about maybe giving the girl some sort of comforting words but he still had a small ball of anger in his chest, which had not yet extinguished itself. He let her keep talking. There was something soothing about her voice as she let out her own demons. Much better than letting his own out.

"Everyone told me it wasn't my fault and even though I knew it wasn't my fault, I still felt like it was," she whispered, staring at her knees. "Because I had picked them and had them fitted and the automail was my creation. And I killed them with my creation."

"It still wasn't your fault," Ed finally managed to say after a long pause of silence.

Winry turned and looked at Edward, blue eyes staring into gold. Ed felt something pass through him as she stared at him but before he could think of what it might be, it went away.

"I know it wasn't my fault," Winry sighed, turning her head away from him.

"It's not like me where I know it was my fault when someone died because I pulled the trigger of my gun," Ed snapped, feeling his anger bubble up through him once again.

"I don't think that was really your fault those people died either," Winry muttered as she stared at her hands.

"What are you talking about?" Ed asked as he turned onto his side so that he could face the girl. "Of course it was my fault. I pulled the trigger and someone died because of it. There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it. I _killed_ people."

"It's still not one-hundred percent your fault though," Winry said, turning her head back to look at Edward. "It's the government's fault as well for making you do it in the first place. If the government had not forced you to sign up and go to war, would you have ever killed those people? Probably not. So yeah, it was a little bit of your fault but not completely."

"And what good will that do?" Ed asked bitterly. "What good is there from knowing that it's not _completely_ my fault that people have died? I still killed people who probably had a family or friends who were waiting for them to come back!"

Winry stared down at Edward for a moment with a hard expression before she sighed and shook her head. She stretched out her legs and after a moment of silence, she turned and stared back at Edward.

"What good will it do?" Winry asked. "It tells you that you're not actually a monster who willingly kills people. You were simply forced into being a puppet for the government. And while being a puppet isn't exactly the best thing, at least there are decent puppets while there are not decent monsters."

Edward stared up at Winry as he tried to digest his words. Maybe she was right. Maybe he was not completely at fault for some deaths. Maybe he was not as horrible as he thought he was.

"Just get back to sleep," Winry said after a moment as she turned away from him. "You'll need all of your energy for tomorrow with the workout I have in mind."

Edward watched as she gave him the faintest of smirks before walking away back to where she chose to sleep. He thought of maybe asking her to come back because he felt just a little bit calmer when she was next to him but he pushed the idea away from his mind.

_She's right, you know,_ Ed thought to himself as he closed his eyes_. You're probably not as horrible as you think you are._

"No. I'm a monster," Ed whispered to himself as a few more flashes of gore and death came to mind. "I'm a killer and deserve to be shot."

"No you don't."

Edward opened his eyes with a start at the voice and saw Winry standing over him, looking down at him with concern written all over her face. Without another word, Winry sat back down next to Ed and stared down at him.

"Go to sleep," Winry ordered quietly as she briefly brushed Edward's flesh hand with her own. "I'll be here if you need me."

Edward nodded his head slightly before he closed his eyes without another word, feeling a small bit of comfort at the through of Winry watching over him as he slept.

* * *

**So, kind of a cliffhanger here. Gotta find out what's gonna happen to Al and Hoho and his friends and see what else happens on the way up north.**

**Thanks for reading and everyone should totally send me a review because it was my birthday. Also, I just turned 17 and you know what that means? It means I can use magic whenever I want and I will curse those who don't send me a review. Got it? :P**

**See ya next time! :D**

**-FSK  
**


	33. Break Away

**What's up readers? Whoa, it's like I'm updating at an acceptable pace or something... weird. :P**

**Anywho, thanks for waiting on this one and to everyone who read and reviewed last chapter. :) I'd also like to thank my wonderful beta, Dani, who celebrated her BIRTHDAY this past weekend! :D Happy birthday, Dani! XD**

**So, let's see if and how these guys escape from their prison.  
**

* * *

Hohenheim burst out through the front doors, shooting a guard as he did so, and took in his first breath of free air in years. He wanted to pause and relish in the moment but he knew that now was not the time to stop and smell the flowers. The prisoners still had a courtyard filled with more guards to contend with along with the police, which were sure to be here any moment due to the wailings of the car's in the distance.

"Come on," he said, motioning them all forwards.

There was a pain in his side and he really could use another moment to regain his breath but he pushed through it. He would breathe later when he had time. He aimed his gun at an oncoming guard but when he pressed the trigger, nothing happened. He was out of bullets.

"I need a gun!" he yelled as he tossed the useless gun away.

Mei placed her hardly used gun into his hand and managed to shoot the guard but not before the guards bullet managed to knick him in the shoulder.

"Dad, are you alright?" Alphonse yelled in worry.

"Yes. Keep going," he ordered as they ran across the courtyard towards the gates, which had been opened by the master key. They probably only had a few seconds at best to get through the gates now and they were still a good hundred feet from it. "You all need to run!"

Hohenheim mustered all of his strength from inside him and ran as fast as his old, worn down body would go. The younger people in his group ran a bit past him but he could tell they did not want to go past him for fear of becoming split up. A hail of gunfire started behind them but no one stopped, slowed down, or even tried to see what was happening.

The large gates began to close and Hohenheim felt another bullet knick the back of his shin but he forced his leg to keep moving. His heart felt like it would give out at any minute but he knew that if he game up now, he would be left inside. Just as the gates were about to shut, Hohenheim managed to squeeze himself through the space behind his son and his friends.

There were moans and cries and pleas from prisoners who had not managed to reach the gates in time but he tried his best to ignore them. He could not focus on others right now; they had to focus on their own survival and survival meant that they had to keep moving.

"Come on," he ordered after allowing himself a second to catch his breath.

"Where are we going to go?" Alphonse asked, sounding breathless himself.

"We need to get out of Central now," Hohenheim said as they ran down the road. "And we need to get out before the military comes."

"And how do we do that on foot?" Russell asked as they heard the wails of police sirens in the distance.

"Who said we're going on foot?"

Hohenheim turned down the next street and watched as a car started driving towards them. It was not a police car or any sort of military vehicle but a simple civilian car; perfect. Before anyone could protest, Hohenheim pointed his gun at the oncoming car and watched as the driver's face began to fill with fear.

"Dad!" Alphonse shouted from behind him. "What are you doing?"

"Just watch," Hohenheim said quietly as the car stopped dead in its tracks. The driver raised his hands in a sign of surrender. Hohenheim walked forwards quickly with the gun still pointed at the terrified man. "Get out of the car."

"Yes," the man said weakly before he opened the car door open and jumped out of it like the vehicle was on fire. Hohenheim nodded over to the group, who looked slightly surprised at his actions. "Get in."

Without another word or complaint, the four teens rushed forwards and crawled into the car; Hohenheim had torn out of the area before they had even closed their doors properly.

"Do you think anyone will recognize us?" Al asked from the passenger seat as he tried to look innocent.

"I don't know," Hohenheim said before he reached out and pulled his name tag off of his lab coat and tossed it out the window. "There's a tracker in there for sure."

"Do you think there are any trackers on us?" Fletcher asked worriedly from the back.

"I don't know," he said. "None of you were taken into examination, where you?"

"No," several voices piped up from the back.

"Well they would have put some sort of tracking device on you then," he finished. "I was supposed to put one on Alphonse but I didn't. I think you're all clean. Alphonse, grab the wheel for a second."

"Um, alright," Al said in an uneasy voice as he gripped onto the steering wheel. Hohenheim let his hands off of the wheel and quickly pulled off his lab coat and tossed it out the window.

"You know, I don't think going fifty miles per hour in a thirty-five zone will really make us less conspicuous," Russell added from the back as they flew by a passing car.

"We are merely fearful Central citizens who heard there was some mass breakout at a jail and we need to get out now," Hohenheim said easily. "It's not like the police are going to stop us on the way to the breakout. They've got more important things on their plates right now."

Alphonse tried to tell himself that his father was probably right, that the police would not be looking for escaped prisoners in cars at the moment. Soon, sure, but they would probably have enough time to at least get out of Central before they started pulling people over.

"So where are we going after we get out of Central again?" Al asked as he leaned his head against the headrest and tried to calm himself down.

"We need to go down south to the area where Edward was stationed and find out what happened to him," Hohenheim answered as he drove around a slow car.

"From one hell to another," Russell commented from the back with a slight grimace on his face. "But I guess it's a necessary hell if we want to find out what happened to Ed."

"It might be easier to mix in on the battlefield," Al said as he watched the tall business buildings begin to shrink in size and number. "No one will look all that much at a couple of beat up people. We might be able to pass as soldiers or something."

"Before that, I think it's best we try and figure out what's going on in this war," Hohenheim said as he reached out to flick on the radio; all stations where covering news on the war.

"… _Amestrian forces were able to beat back a battalion of Aeurgan forces today on the southern front. Although there were many casualties on each side, Aeurgo appears to have lost more. No actual amounts have been reported as of yet but it appears that-"_

* * *

"_- that the war is turning in Amestris' favor. In other news, on the southwestern front, a camp of Amestrian POW's were rescued by the newly promoted Colonel Roy Mustang and his squadron. There were minimal injuries from the Colonel's team but it is unsure of who was rescued from the camp."_

Edward looked at the radio that sat a few feet away from him and registered the small amount of elation he felt at the news that someone he knew from the war front was still alive. Unfortunately, hearing this news only made him want to know what was happening with everyone else he had left behind on the warfront.

_And Al,_ Ed thought. _And Russ and Fletcher_.

Edward sighed and rubbed his face, feeling suddenly exhausted. Well, to put it more accurately, he felt suddenly more exhausted then he already was. Winry had just forced him to do several more shaky laps around the train car but had just allowed him to rest and listen to the torturous news.

"You okay?"

Ed pulled his hands away from his face and stared at Winry, who was looking at him with an intense expression. He let his hands drop to his side and tried to push away the gut-wrenching feelings, which wanted to explode from him at every possible moment.

"I'm fine."

"You don't…" Winry started in a slightly harsh voice before she let out a deep breath and started again in a softer voice. "Do you know that guy they were talking about? Colonel Mustang or something?"

"Yeah," he answered in the calmest voice he could manage. "He was my squadron leader while I was playing soldier out there."

"Was he good?" Winry asked. "Or, well, did you think he was a good person or not?"

Ed though back to the few days he spent half-assing his position as soldier and tried to think of all his interactions with the now Colonel. He remembered how after they returned from the battlefield and Edward was haunted by the images he had seen and the things he had done, Mustang had made an effort to make him feel at least a little better.

"Yeah," Ed sighed as he closed his eyes as images of the battlefield flashed before his eyes in a nauseous blur. "Yeah, he's a good guy. He knew what we were doing was wrong and pointless."

"That's good," Winry muttered.

Ed nodded his head but he did not open his eyes again. Once he had begun thinking about Mustang, he thought of Hughes, who was clearly a nice guy just by the aura that came from him. He wondered vaguely if Hughes had been there with Mustang to help liberate the POW camp or if he was somewhere else…

"This war will be over soon," Winry told Ed as she placed her own warm gently on top of Ed's flesh one.

"And what makes you say that?" Ed asked as he opened his eyes to look at Winry.

"This war's been going on for eight years. It's been going on too long. It has to be over soon."

At these words, Ed could not help but let out a slightly bitter laugh.

"People have been saying this war's been going on too long for about six years now."

"Yeah but remember what the radio said? The war might actually be over for once."

"And then what?" Ed asked as he felt anger bubble inside of him suddenly. "We'll get a slight reprieve from this all and then before you know it, Amestris will piss someone else off and we'll be in another war before you know it."

Edward and Winry stared into each other's eyes for a moment, neither quite sure what to say to the other, before Winry sighed and turned away. Ed watched as Winry turned, got up, and began to walk to her usual spot. Just as Ed moved to turn the radio up, he heard Winry mutter something.

"What did you say?" Ed asked.

"Nothing," Winry said in a tired voice as she stared at him from over her shoulder.

"No, you said something. What was it?" he asked in a slightly less demanding voice.

Winry stared at him for a moment before she sighed once more and turned to face Ed.

"Maybe this time will be the time it actually sticks."

"What sticks?"

"The fact that killing each other every time two places have a problem is not the way you solve things," she said in a slow and weary voice.

"And not to sound like a complete asshole, but I'm pretty sure people have been saying that for a long time as well," Ed said slowly.

"Well right now I don't have anything else to do except hope that these never-ending wars might be over soon," Winry said after a slight pause in an angrier voice than before.

Edward opened his mouth to talk back to her, possibly to tell her that hoping was the same as praying to some fake deity and that they were both completely pointless and idiotic, but he never got the chance. A loud series of beeps rung out from the radio and alerted everyone in the boxcar to pay attention to the News Flash.

"_Breaking news! A mass break out has just occurred at one of Central's many prisons. Prisoners are now roaming free in and around the Central area. Some of these escapee's are armed and there are even reports of automobile theft. We strongly suggest all Central citizens and those living in the surrounding area to stay inside until further notice."_

* * *

**WOOT WOOT! Hoho and Al and then escaped! :D And now they're driving into another riskier area. :| Can't these guys just stay in a safe place? NOPE. I know some of you were expecting something to happen to Hoho but nope, he gets to go free... for now. *evil cackle*  
**

**But before I loose you guys, I gotta tell you all to check out some really amazing fanart for this story by the rather amazing Fortune Fishing/TheToeHead. I got the links on my profile here, just go to the end of it and under Perpetual War, there will be links. Click on them and prepare to be amazed.**

**So, thanks for reading, send a review my way, and then please go check out some rockin fanart. :)**

**-FSK  
**


	34. Another News Flash

**So... hey everybody... or at least, everybody who's willing to deal with my dumb updating and hasn't given up on this story. :|**

**Well I had some major writing block on this story and then I had to worry about school and then my beta had to worry about school and then there was some dumb shit with the dumb DocX exchange that cost some time and, well, I'm just making excuses here. Sorry. :(**

**But thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter and whoever is still here for this chapter. Also, thank you Dani for editing once again. I really appreciate the help.**

**Enjoy**

* * *

They would have kept going. They would have all felt best if they drove through the day and got as far away from Central, with its heavily guarded areas, as fast as possible but they really did need to stop. Hohenheim was bleeding all too much for it to be safe.

"We really need to pull over," Alphonse said as he tried his best to apply pressure to Hohenheim's wound while his father continued to drive as fast as he could without gaining too much attention. "You might need stitches or something, dad."

"I'll be fine," Hohenheim said as he stared at the road ahead of him with his face rather pale.

They had managed to drive through the night, and were now hundreds of miles south of Central, but their paranoia did not lessen any. In fact, their paranoia seemed only grow, what with all the incoming news reports and their fear that they would be pulled over at any moment by a squad of police cars.

"You need to get this looked at," Al pressed. "It'll only take a bit of time and-"

"Alphonse," Hohenheim hissed sternly. "I promise, we'll stop when I find a place to stop _at_. It's not like I'm passing up a whole string of hospitals here."

Alphonse glanced out the window and sighed slightly; his father was right about that. They had not passed much of anything for several hours. On either side of the roads were nothing but rolling fields and roaming farm animals. Not even a house where they could ask for help. There really was only one option.

"Let me at least drive," Al said sternly. "You've been going for hours."

"Alright," Hohenheim muttered with a shrug before he pulled the car to the side of the road and allowed his younger son to trade seats with him.

* * *

"And that should about do it," said the old doctor as he cut the sterile thread with a pair of scissors and smeared some medicine on the wound. "Lucky for you, this cut wasn't all that deep."

"Thank you," Alphonse said with a nod as he tried to ignore the gnawing feeling from inside of him that told them that they needed to get back on the road this very second. "We really appreciate it."

"Aw, it's nothing," the doctor said as he wiped a smudge off of his glasses. "In times like theses, I think it's good if I throw a little free assistance towards people who need it. And not to sound harsh, but you folks sure look like you could use it."

Al looked around at the group and after inspecting all of their dirty and tattered clothing, he felt that he had no room to dispute the doctor's assessment.

"Well, thanks again," he said quietly.

"No problem. I'll have you fixed up in just another minute."

Just then, the small, ancient radio in the corner let out a loud, shrill beeping noise. Everyone in the doctor's office turned to look at the radio with a slight look of fear in their eyes; that is, everyone who was an escapee from the Amestris government. The doctor returned to his work with no more than a small glance at the radio.

"That blasted thing has been beeping all damn day and night," he grumbled as he adjusted his glasses. "Twice now I've been quite tempted to chuck it out the window so that maybe I could get some peace around here."

"But what about the news?" Russell asked. "Don't you want to know what's going on out there? If their doing some broadcast, it's gotta be important."

"Yeah well, you try fixing up patients and then having some shrill beeping going off in your ear," he said with a sigh. "My scissors slipped just this morning and I had to stitch up another wound on poor Mr. Green.

"Not to mention that out here in the middle of nowhere, unless there's news of troops storming cornfields, I've got nothing to worry about. This war has gone on too damn long and I'm done with it. I've got no patience for it anymore."

"But don't you get a lot of business from all the wounded?" Fletcher asked quietly.

"Yes but I'd be a horrible and greedy man if I said that I wished this war would never end just so that I could keep a steady work. I've got enough money as it is. That's why I've stopped charging. A man only needs so much money before it just goes to waste."

"Can I turn up the radio?" Alphonse asked as he moved over to the radio. The beeping noises had just ceased, which meant the major news would be stated soon.

"Sure. Knock your socks off," the old doctor said as he began to wipe some antiseptic on Hohenheim's wound.

"_This just in from Central, the heart of the country!_" shouted the reporter. "_New information from the mass breakout has just arrived! It appears that a number of the escapees have been rounded up in and around the Central area but there are still a number of runaway's at large that we need to watch out for. Now, believe it or not folks, but not all of the escapees were criminals. Some were the guards working there_."

"They make it sound like it was a regular, old jail," Hohenheim said as he stared at the radio.

"Well wasn't it?" the doctor asked curiously as wrapped up Hohenheim's arm. "But what do I care? I didn't I just say that I didn't want to hear any more of that garbage?"

"_Now I have a list here of some people who the Central officials say are major threats to anyone who runs into them,_" the reporter continued. Alphonse felt a ball twist in his stomach at these words because he just knew what was coming next. "_It appears that enemy number one is a man by the name of Hohenheim Elric. Now this Hohenheim fellow is a man of his mid-to-late forties with blond hair-"_

The reporters words stopped there because Al had reached out and turned off the radio before anymore words could be said that would incriminate them. The doctor looked up at them with an expression of surprise on his face.

"Heard enough?" he asked simply.

"Yeah," Al said as he tried to keep his voice calm. "Yeah, I've heard all I need to hear."

"Don't blame you, my boy. You get a description of someone you're supposed to look for and suddenly, you see them everywhere. Before you know it, innocent people are being rounded up and blamed for something they didn't do."

"It's crazy," Mei muttered from her seat in the corner.

"Crazy like you wouldn't believe," the doctor said with a smile before he turned to Hohenheim and said, "Well, you're all fixed up. Now take it easy or you might just rip open that wound again. Got it?"

"Yes. Thank you, sir," Hohenheim said as he got up from his seat. "We really need to get on the road again."

"Well you be careful. You heard the radio. There are a bunch of crazy people out there," he said with a slight laugh; clearly not taking the announcement's seriously.

"Take care."

"You too."

The group marched out of the doctor's office and walked as fast as they could back to their car. Once inside the car, Hohenheim quickly turned the car on and then hit the radio. Together they listened to the radio while Hohenheim got back onto the road.

"… _is a bad situation we're in right now but we all have to remember to keep calm and stay indoors," _the reporter said in a soothing voice._ "Now, for those who are just tuning in, let me reiterate who our top suspects are that we need to watch out for. There is a man named Hohenheim Elric, blond hair, gold eye, glasses, and he is around six feet tall and around his late forties. Along with him, you must watch out for Alphonse Elric, possibly traveling with his father, also with blond hair and eyes, seventeen years old, around five feet eight inches… Along with the father son duo, there are a number of others to look out for…"_

The car listened in silence as each of them were named and described. Only when the last one of them was called out did they turn down the radio and let the situation they were in sink in.

"Well, we're going to have a hard time getting around now," Hohenheim said heavily as he increased the cars speed far past the suggested speed limit.

"Guess it's back to how it was in the beginning," Russell said with a hint of a smile. "Crawling around at night."

"Sleeping during the day," Fletcher added.

"Traveling through the wilderness with only as much as we could carry," Al finished. "The good old days."

"Well, we can always hope that as we get farther away from Central, less people will care," Hohenheim said. "And if we keep up this pace, we can get down the battlefield by tomorrow morning. Maybe even by tonight."

"I hope we get down there soon," Al said. "I need to find out what happened to brother."

"We will, Al," Russell said as he reached out and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We'll find out what happened to him and then we'll find him."

Al nodded his head and let out a deep breath. It seemed like years since he had last seen his brother and all he could hope was that he would see him again with both of them healthy and alive.

* * *

"Edward."

"Huh?" Ed moaned as he rolled over in his sleep. He had just completed a major workout and he was did not want to wake up from his sleep, not matter what was happening. "Go 'way."

"Edward Elric!" Winry shouted as she began to shake Ed's sore body violently. "Wake the hell up!"

"What the hell, Winry?" Ed growled as he pried his eyes open. He knew that it was definitely not time for another work out already. He could not have been asleep for more than ten minutes. "Can't I sleep for twenty freaking minutes? Bother me later when I've actually had some rest."

"No, listen to me, you idiot," Winry said as she reached out and pulled Edward into a sitting position by the front of his shirt. "Or better yet, listen to _this._"

Ed's tired eyes took a moment to focus but when they did, he noticed that Winry was holding the portable radio in her hand. Winry set the radio on the ground and turned up the volume loudly. Edward bent forward with anticipation; he knew now that whatever was going on was probably very serious indeed.

"…_let me reiterate who our top suspects are that we need to watch out for. There is a man named Hohenheim Elric, blond hair, gold eyes, glasses, and he is around six feet tall and around his late forties. Along with him, you must watch out for Alphonse Elric, possibly traveling with his father, also with blond hair and eyes, seventeen years old, around five feet eight inches… Along with the father son duo, there are a number of others to look out for, including the blond haired and blue-eyed brothers named Russell and Fletcher Tringham…"_

"What?" Ed whispered, his mind going completely blank.

"Ed, Alphonse is your brother, right?" Winry asked quickly in a quiet but serious voice.

"Y-yeah but, but Al's supposed to have traveled with Russ and Fletch to Xing," Ed said slowly; things were just not making any sense here. This had to be a bad dream or something.

_What is going on?_

"And that means that the man they're traveling with, Hohenheim-"

"He's my father," he whispered. "Al's with… with dad? But… how?"

"You know the breakout we heard yesterday? Well apparently they orchestrated it or were a part of it or something. But anyhow, they're on the run now."

"What?" Ed asked. "They were in a jail?"

"Yes."

"And they escaped?"

"Yes," Winry repeated. "The radio says that they're traveling south, but that could just be a rumor or speculation."

Edward stared at the radio as if it were something he had never seen before. None of this, not one bit of it made any sense to him and he knew that no one in this train car or the people on the radio could really explain what had just happened. The only people who could really tell him the answers he needed, were now headed in the opposite direction as him. He knew what he had to do now.

"Winry, I need to get out of here," Ed said as he pushed himself into a standing position. "I need to get back down south."

* * *

**Ah! Ed knows about Al and his daddy now! :D**

**So hopefully I'll get the next one updated within a month. :P I'm just saying a month so no one gets there hopes up. But I do have a page and a half of the next chapter already done so maybe I'll actually get another update within the month. Cross your fingers.**

**I'm so excited! I have one more quarter of this school year and then I'm a senior! :D**

**Hopefully I'll see you readers again soon.**

**-FSK  
**


	35. Stuck and Confused

**Whoa, two updates in one month, you're not the only one surprised here. :P**** But I am sorry about all my weird updating and I am trying to get it under control.  
**

**I wanna thank all the people who have been patient with me and contiued to read this story and also I wanna thank my editor, Dani, who is always helpful.  
**

**So, last time we left off, Ed finally found out what happened to Al and his daddy and Al and the others were trying to get to the war zone.  
**

**Enjoy**

* * *

"Ed, what are you talking about?" Winry asked quietly.

"I need to get down there. I have to find them and make sure they're alright!" Edward yelled as he reached down to grab his backpack. "They need to know I'm alright too. That's why they must be heading south! They're probably looking for me!"

"And how are you supposed to get there?" she asked quietly.

"I'll hop a train."

"And how are you supposed to get on it while you're currently traveling on this train?" she asked in a much louder voice. "Are you going to jump off of a moving train?"

"If I have to, I will," Ed said defiantly. "I'll do whatever I have to do."

"You're an idiot!" Winry declared as she stood up herself. "You could kill yourself! At the very least, you could break your leg or arm!"

"It's a risk I'll have to take," he said before he began walking towards the other side of the boxcar, where the large, heavy door was.

"Wait!" Winry yelled as she ran after Edward. "You are not just going to go after them all by yourself!"

"Well if anyone wants to come, they're free to but going by myself really won't stop me." Edward and Winry glared at each other, both of them daring the other one to say or do something to break the stalemate. Finally, Rollan spoke up from the corner, breaking the thick silence.

"He's not going anywhere."

"Why?"

"Because not only are you in no condition to go traipsing off on your own, you'd be asking for trouble, no matter where you went," Rollan said wisely.

"What do you mean?"

"Kid, your side thinks you're dead or missing or something and they are probably looking for you and will shit a brick if they can tell the world that they managed to find someone they were looking for. Secondly, you're carrying prosthetics that are not exactly legal and that will always get you into a sticky situation. Lastly, based on the reports we heard on the radio, any idiot who's looking for a blond haired man with gold eyes will come gunning straight at you," Rollan pointed his finger at him and pretended to shoot at Ed. "You're fucked anyway you go, kid. You're stuck right here with us."

Rollan continue to smile his patronizing little smile, which only succeeded in pissing Ed off even more than he already was.

"Oh, and not to mention that, like Winry said, you'll probably break a ton of bones on you're way out of the train and then you'll have a harder time trying to find your bro and your dear old dad. So go back and take your seat. You're going to be here for a while."

Edward glared at Rollan and then turned his head and scowled at Winry, who gave him a stern look that told him that he should listen to Rollan. Finally, Ed turned on his heal, stomped back to his place, threw his bag down, and slid to the ground. As much as it pissed him off to admit it, Rollan did have a point. He was a sitting duck for the time being.

* * *

Hohenheim kept his foot firmly on the gas peddle of the car. The yellow lights carved out a path through the darkness for them to follow and a heavy silence pressed on them from all directions. His tired eyes kept flickering back to the tiny little dial, which showed their steadily declining gasoline supply. They had passed up one gas station but it was too much of a risk to stop and refuel, now that their profiles had been broadcasted across the entire country. They would, however, be forced to stop soon, any moment now really, since the dial was now resting right about the letter E on the gauge. The only positive Hohenheim could point out was that it was dark out and if they needed to start walking anytime, it would be during the night, where there would be less people to see them.

They were probably a few hours away from the war zone and if they were forced to walk, they would probably get there around midday tomorrow. They might be able to know what had happened to Edward by tomorrow afternoon.

"How much longer can we keep this up?"

Hohenheim turned to look at his younger son as he rubbed his eyes sleepily. He smiled lightly at his son before he answered.

"Do you mean how long he car can last or how long we can keep traveling?"

"Well… both," Alphonse said slowly with a weak grin. "But I just intended to ask you how much longer the car could last but if you had any idea on the second question…?"

"I doubt this car will be moving five minutes from now," he answered truthfully.

"And the other thing?" Al asked slowly.

Hohenheim turned to look his son. He took in the ragged appearance, the clear loss of weight and muscle mass, and the tattered clothes.

"It all depends," Hohenheim finally answered after a minute of silence. "Depends on if we can find another car to borrow or an empty gas station. Depends on how hard it is to find Edward. You just can't predict it."

Hohenheim watched out of the corner of his eye as Alphonse nodded his head slowly and refocused on the road. With every foot that they traveled, Hohenheim willed himself to believe that the car could pull a miracle and continue on with no gasoline. Unfortunately for him and the occupants of the car, willing for something to happen usually won't make the thing you wish for a reality. The car sputtered along for another minute before it stopped working and rolled forwards for a few feet from the built up momentum.

"Well, that's it for now," he informed the rest of the car as he opened the car door and got out of the car. "We're going to have to walk from here."

"How long do you think that'll be exactly?" Russell asked he pulled Fletcher and Mei from the back, both of whom had fallen asleep during the ride.

"Couple hours drive from here," Hohenheim said as he straightened his glasses. "We'd probably get there around noon if we have to walk the entire way."

Russell and Fletcher let out audible groans while Mei and Alphonse looked disheartened.

"I know it seems like a lot but maybe we'll be able to find another car," Hohenheim said for the other benefit; he doubted that they would be able to find another form of transportation besides their feet. "Now come on. We're wasting time standing here."

The group sighed and nodded before they picked up their feet and began marching down the dark road. They followed after Hohenheim as he lead them into the tall and thick wheat fields that bordered the road.

"You know, I doubt we'll see many cars around here," Al stated as he glanced down the black road. "We're so close to the war that I doubt many people live around here anymore."

"Maybe we'll be able to sneak some food," Russell said. "Probably a bunch of empty evacuated houses to pick from."

"Only if they haven't been picked before us," Fletcher said. "This war has been going on for a while now. People have been picking at the remains of evacuated areas for years."

"Still room to hope isn't there?"

"Maybe we will be able to find another car to use," Mei sighed, looking forlorn. "If I miss anything about that horrible prison was that I did not need to constantly travel."

"That is a good point," Al said, turning around to smile at the girl, who blushed rather spectacularly and turned away.

"Well, be on the look out for anything useful," Hohenheim said. "There might be some houses coming up around here soon."

"Let's just hope they're empty," Al sighed, who did not feel in the mood to rob innocent people; he still felt a little guilty over stealing the car from the Central citizens.

* * *

"So we'll be arriving a day earlier?" Winry asked as she, Rollan, and Goran consulted the large map that they had stretched out in front of them. "That's great."

"Yeah but I'll have to try and message my brother or things could get a little hairy," Rollan said, looking a little uneasy.

"What do you mean?" Winry asked.

"Well, you see, my brother didn't exactly get clearance from his boss there and it'll be hard enough to sneak in when he expects up to and-"

"What?" the blond-haired woman roared, looking mutinous. "I thought you said it was safe for us to go there!"

"Well it is. It's just that his boss isn't really one for visitors and we'll just have to be careful not to get into anyone's way," Rollan stuttered as he tried to back peddle and gain control of the situation. "But there will be room for us-"

"That doesn't sound very safe to me!"

"What other options did we have, Winry?" Rollan yelled, clearly done trying to salvage his story.

"There were plenty of other options we could have gone with!" she exclaimed as she threw her arms in the air in exasperation.

"I didn't hear you come up with any great ideas back there!" he defended himself.

"Because you said you had it under control!" she roared. "And I wasn't exactly in the mood to come up with my own plans, alright?"

The boys watched as Winry's eyes, sharpened in anger, suddenly became rather shiny and wet. Before either man could say another word, Winry jumped up and marched to the opposite side of the boxcar, ignoring the men's shouts as she moved. Once she reached the farthest corner away from them, Winry dropped down to the ground, pulled her knees to her chest and buried her face into her thighs while she tried her very best to keep every tear and sob inside.

* * *

Edward watched the group huddle together at the other end of the boxcar, their location broadcasted by the low-light lamp lit up next to them. He had been trying to sleep for hours ever since Winry woke him up with the news on the radio but nothing worked. While his body was sore and exhausted, his mind was awake and filled with buzzing thoughts. It angered him unbelievably that he could not get up and leave the train so that he could locate his family. He knew they were traveling south in hopes of finding him and here he was traveling in the very opposite direction with no way to let them know where he was. It was maddening. The news that they would be arriving up north a day earlier did make him feel better but it would still take a very long time to get back down south, even if he managed to find another train to hop. Suddenly, voices exploded from the other side of the train; Ed could see Winry and Rollan fight, there twisted and angry faces illuminated by the light. He propped himself onto one elbow and watched the argument for a moment before Winry sprang up and began stomping towards his end of the train. She blew past him without a passing glance.

"Winry?" Ed asked as he pushed himself up and watched as Winry crumpled onto the ground.

When the blond did not answer, Ed glanced back towards the light, where he could see Rollan standing up and looking extremely apologetic. Sighing slightly and not quite sure why he was doing this, Ed stood up and slowly walked over to her.

"Winry?" he asked when he was standing right in front of her.

"Go away, pipsqueak," she ordered in an angry, stuffy voice. "I do not need your help, alright?"

"It kinda looks like you could use some help," he muttered as he sat down next to Winry.

"Well looks can be deceiving because I am just fine on my own," she growled with her face still buried in her legs.

"Winry…" he sighed as he watched her shoulders begin to shake.

"It's nothing, really," she said in a much weaker and softer voice. "I'll be fine in a minute."

"You know, you don't have to be so strong all the time," Ed said quietly after a long pause.

"I know that," she snapped.

"And I'm not trying to be strong. I just am."

Edward let out a small laugh at this, which caused Winry's head to turn and glare at him with watery eyes. As Ed stared at Winry, taking in her blotchy face, her bloodshot eyes, and her shaking shoulders, he felt that same something he felt string inside of him back in the basement of the shack. He tried to push the feeling away but it seemed keen on staying put.

"Don't you laugh at me," she hissed in a quivering voice.

"I'm sorry," he said honestly.

"Now leave me alone."

Edward opened his mouth to say something but before he could, she turned back away and buried her face back into her legs. He listened as she let out the tiniest of sobs. Even though Winry said she wanted to be alone, Ed had the feeling inside that she really wanted comfort and was just too proud to ask for it. Taking a cue from the warm feeling in side of him, Edward wrapped his flesh arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. She did not resist at all and actually turned towards him, resting her head on his chest while quiet tears rolled down her face.

The two sat together for hours, not parting until weak morning rays began to leak in from all the tiny cracks in the walls. Edward glanced down at Winry and saw that she had stopped crying had fallen asleep. He set her gently on her side on the ground and placed his jacket over her to keep her warm while a million thoughts spun around his head.

While he still was determined to go down south as soon as he could so that he could find his family and friends, there was a small part of him that felt like staying with Winry would not be so bad at all. He knew he had to leave but he also knew that he wanted to stay, no matter how irrational it was.

_We still have another two days until we get there_, Edward thought as he glanced down at Winry's sleeping form._T__wo more days to figure out what to do._

* * *

**Some nice and confusing EdWin to finish off the chapter.  
**

**I think by next chapter, the Boys and Mei will have reached the battlefield and maybe Ed and Winry will have finally reached their newest hiding spot up north. But you'll just have to wait to find out for sure.  
**

**Please send a review my way and thanks for reading. :)**

**-FSK  
**


	36. Help on the Battlefield

**Hey readers. Sorry about my crappy updating skills... my bad.**

**I've just had a lot of writers block on this story lately... me and my excuses. :\  
**

**But summer will be coming soon so hopefully I can write less sporadically. And also, my beta will be probably less busy so that's a plus.  
**

**Thanks for everyone who reviewed last chapter, I appreciated it a lot. :)  
**

**Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Alphonse stared down the deserted road while he tried to take it all in. Boxes left on the side of the road, filled with possessions that people could not manage to take along with them. Empty houses with the doors open wide. Smashed windows on houses and cars with litter lining the street. Not a sole in sight, not a sound could be heard, and everything illuminated by the soft morning rays of light.

"When was the last time anyone lived here?" Russell asked as he kicked an empty can.

"Probably not for a good year," Hohenheim said as he walked down the road slowly. "Maybe even two. Lots of this surrounding area has been evacuated for a while now."

"Makes it easier for us to move around in the daytime," Fletcher said as he looked down the vacant road. "Do you think there's anything in the houses?"

"Probably have been picked clean by now," Hohenheim said. "But it'd be worth a try."

"Do you think it is safe to rest in these houses?" Mei asked as she stared at an empty house tentatively.

"I don't see why not," Alphonse said before he stifled a yawn. "Maybe we should rest and then see what we can get from the houses."

"Sounds like a good idea."

* * *

"Alphonse. Wake up. It's time to get going."

Alphonse's eyes flew open as if he had been zapped awake with electricity, instead of being shaken gently awake. He turned and, after a slight moment of disorientation, saw his father standing over him. Their traveling companions were lying all over the large and dusty living room, all in different stages of consciousness. Al's eyes focused on the partially filled burlap sack that sat next to Hohenheim.

"What'd you find?"

"Well, there wasn't a whole lot food wise but there were a few things I managed to find," Hohenheim said as he looked through the bag. "The pipes weren't too rusty yet so I have some water. Some bandages and some medicine. A few kitchen knives I managed to find hidden in one of the closets."

"Better than nothing," Alphonse said as he stretched and got up from his spot on the old rug.

"I also managed to find a map in a neighboring house," Hohenheim continued as he spread the heavily crinkled and marked map onto the ground. "We're probably only an hour or two walk away from the battlefield."

"Really?"

"Yeah. If we start moving we can probably get there right at nightfall."

The group of five quickly got up, made one last search for anything useful, and then left the house, not bothering to make it appear as if they hadn't been there; it appeared as if several houses had been used as lodgings for travelers.

"What do we do next?" Alphonse asked as the abandoned houses slowly shrunk into the distance. "What do we do when we finally get there?"

"We'll have to start asking around," he said after a moment. "But we'll have to be careful not to draw attention. Maybe you and Russell and Fletcher could steal some uniforms and blend in. I doubt they'd care all that much about some escapees there."

"It's worth a shot," Russell said. "Maybe we could find out what exact area Ed had been assigned and then maybe we could get a better idea of who might know where he is."

"It's all just speculation. We'll just have to do what it takes to find him."

* * *

The sun was slowly descending into the horizon and even though they could not see anything that gave away their location, the sounds and smells surely told them all how close they were to the battlefield. Gun powder lingered everywhere around them and the popping sounds of gun fire and the more earth-shaking rumbles of bombs never seemed to leave their ears.

The earth was desolate and if any structures still stood, they appeared as if one good gust of wind would knock them over. No grass covered the ground anymore, only sandy, grainy soil that would hold no vegetation. It really appeared as if they had reached the end of the line.

The empty road seemed to never end though, because by the time they reached the very edge of the battlefield, the sun had long since set. Even though Alphonse felt some relief as they stepped foot onto the warzone, which was completely ridiculous because a battlefield was probably the last place one would feel relief, he also felt desperation fill him.

There were just so many places Ed could be, if he was even still alive at all! Where would they even start? How would they even start? Would anyone even know where Ed was? Would anyone know who he was? There were so many soldiers out here, new ones being sent in everyday, it wouldn't surprise Al if they couldn't find anyone who could remember him.

Alphonse was only broken out of his deep thoughts when Russell clapped him roughly on the shoulder. He turned to look at the light-haired teen, who smiled at him.

"We'll find, Al," Russell said confidently. "That little pest is out there somewhere."

"Yeah, Ed'll be just fine," Fletcher said, smiling warmly at Alphonse. "I'm sure someone here knows where we can find him."

"Well… we better get started, huh?"

After some discussion, they decided to spit up into groups; separated, they would not only cover more ground, but attract less attention. Alphonse, Russell, and Fletcher were one group, Hohenheim and Mei made up the other. The three boys, who blended in so seamlessly with the hundreds of other younger men, would investigate through a more direct route. Hohenheim and Mei, who stuck out like sore thumbs, one being not only a tiny female but a foreigner while the other was a larger, older man, who's description was recently broadcasted over the airwaves, would be investigating through stealthier means.

Alphonse had been initially hesitant to travel so boldly into the campground. Surely, someone somewhere would notice the three and question them and when their answers were insufficient, they would be taken care of. However, after almost two hours of questioning, no one seemed to notice or care that they were there. No one, it seemed, appeared to care about anything at all. Everyone they passed, whether it be soldier or field medic, looked like a zombie: faces expressionless, body's slouched, and eyes devoid of any life. Every one of them was like a hit to Al's gut.

Did Edward look like them too? Eyes devoid of any life or emotion, moving around this hell like a robot. No matter how hard Al tried, he just couldn't imagine his brother ever looking like this. One of the most important things about Ed was how his eyes were filled with such life, a spark that could not be put out. Alphonse just could not picture it.

"Who are we even supposed to ask?" Russell asked some time later as he looked around at all the dead faces. "There are so many people here."

"It's insane," Fletcher commented, looking around, looking sick.

"What time were we supposed to meet up with your dad?" Russell asked Al, who snapped out of his thoughts slightly at the question.

He glanced at the watch they had managed to find some time ago and saw that their allotted searching time was almost up. They had been searching for almost three hours and they had an hour to find their way back to the agreed meet-up location. Al sighed, feeling more than a little defeated. There were just so many places Ed could be… so many people here who had no idea he even existed…

"We should start making our way back," Al answered, trying to sound as calm as he could manage. "Dad said to be back in an hour."

Together, the three young men turned around and began to fight their way back through the crowd of zombie soldiers, hoping with all their might that they might find one soldier in particular.

* * *

Hohenheim and Mei weaved around the edges of the camp, heads ducked low and covered as they looked for anyone they trusted to ask for help. Everywhere they looked, they saw nothing but emotionally and physically drained men.

"We have to ask someone," Mei whispered to Hohenheim as they passed a group of clearly defeated soldiers.

Everyone in the vicinity jumped slightly as a loud bomb went off in the distance. Mei turned and looked at it with wide, slightly horrified eyes. The soldiers around them quickly went back to whatever they were doing moments before, as if a colossal bomb had not just gone off so close by. It was astounding.

_She's right,_ Hohenheim said, breaking out of his thoughts. _We need to start asking around or we'll never find Edward._

Hohenheim scanned the desolate campground for a moment before his eyes landed on a large, lighted tent that was marked with a red cross. A medical tent. Surely, a doctor would be willing to help them, right?

Hohenheim placed a gentle hand on Mei back before he led her over to the tent. He glanced inside and noticed instantly that it was almost empty of able-bodied personal. The only upright person appeared to be a tiny, old woman at the far side of the room. Feeling confident that she would at least be a little willing to help, Hohenheim walked inside, and made a noise to let his presence me known to the woman.

"Who are you?" the woman asked, looking at them through heavily smudged glasses. A pipe hung from the corner of her mouth and the smock he wore over her clothes was covered in what could only be blood. "What are you doing here? Only patients and doctors are allowed in here."

"I'm sorry to disturb you, ma'am," Hohenheim said calmly as he took off his head covering, "but I'm looking for someone. I was wondering if you might be able to help me."

"You're not a soldier," she said slowly as she took in their appearances.

"No," he said. "But we're looking for one."

"Well, I'm not sure I could help you with that," she said "There are so many men here, new ones coming in everyday, it's like trying to find a needle in a _hundred _haystacks."

"His name is Edward," Hohenheim said with a hint of desperation hanging on the end of his sentence. "Edward Elric. He's got blond hair and gold eyes. About this tall-"

"Stop," the woman cut in.

The old woman walked forwards, looking Hohenheim square in the eyes, which was a difficult feat, seeing as she was half his height. After a pause, the elderly woman's face broke into something reminiscent of a grin and Hohenheim felt his heart sore slightly.

"Well I'll be damned," she said as she shook her head ever so slightly. "But I actually know where you might find him."

* * *

As Alphonse, Russell, and Fletcher slowly made their way back to the hill Hohenheim has instructed them to meet, Al searched every passing soldier in hopes of stumbling upon his brother, although he knew that would be highly unlikely.

A sudden slurry of stumbling soldiers made their trek back even harder. The zombified soldiers didn't appear to care where their feet took them and didn't care if they rammed into people passing in the other direction. Twice, Al was almost forced to the ground due to the force of the hits and poor, tiny Fletcher had already fallen once.

As Alphonse swerved to the right in an attempt to avoid an oncoming zombie, he received a rough hit to his right shoulder, which sent him tumbling to the ground.

"Sorry about that," the soldier said as he stopped and extended a hand towards Alphonse. "I didn't see you there."

"It's alright," Al said as he accepted the hand and was pulled upwards.

He looked up at the soldier and took in his appearance. He was probably only a few years older than him, but it was hard to tell because the war appeared to age everyone so severely, with dirty blond hair, and pale blue eyes. Unlike so many passing soldiers, his eyes had not quite turned dead to the world. Sure, they were clouded with the misery of the war, but there was still life in there. The spark of life made Al feel better, if only slightly.

The soldier looked Alphonse over critically as he placed a cigarette in his mouth, making Al feel nervous. This soldier could probably tell he was not a soldier. They'd be in trouble any second now for sure.

"You look like someone I used to know," the young man said, surprising Al slightly.

"Really?" Al asked. "Who?"

"No one…" he sighed as he stared at the ground. "Just some kid who I came here with… haven't seen him in a while though…" the young man looked up at him again with a hint of a smile on his face. "You just kinda reminded me of him. You kinda look alike."

"Wait, what was his name?" Al asked quickly, feeling excitement flood his veins.

"Ed," he said slowly. "Ed Elric."

* * *

"Wait, wait, wait," Mei snapped, interrupting the two adults. "I'm confused here. So… Edward was _here_ and he got _hurt_ and then he was taken to some _underground bunker_?"

"Yes," the woman, who eventually introduced herself as Pinako, agreed.

"But that place got attacked."

"Yes."

"And then he went on the run out of the country to another safe house?"

"Yes."

"So he's not even in the bloody _country _anymore?" Mei exclaimed, round eyes popping out the sockets.

"Yes," Pinako answered. "But I know exactly where you would be able to find him. They're supposed to stay there until further notice."

Pinako threw back the rest of her drink before she surveyed Hohenheim, who had been rather quiet through the entire story. Or, at least he had been quiet only after Pinako had informed him that he had been severely wounded.

"I can give you the exact location and the instruction on how to get there, if you'd like it."

"That would be very helpful, thank you," Hohenheim said, finally breaking out of his reverie.

"Now I wouldn't be too worried about him," Pinako said after a long pause as she wrote down some things on a slip of paper. "Your boy is in good hands. The best hands I could think of. I'm sure he's alright."

"I can only hope he is alright," Hohenheim said as he stood up, accepting the slip with the instructions.

"Now, the journey will take some time but the journey is not necessarily hard," she said, handing him the map. "You'll want to bring some supplies along with you."

"Thank you, Pinako," Hohenheim said gratefully as he placed the map and instructions safely into his pocket. "I don't know what I could do to repay you."

"How about you buy me a nice drink if we ever get out of this blasted war."

* * *

**Oooh, can anyone else see a reunion coming up in the future? **

**Okay so HOPEFULLY I can get to updating the next chapter soon but you all know how bad I've been lately so...  
**

**Please leave a review and I'll try my best to get to updating soon.  
**

**-FSK  
**


	37. The Shack Again

**Happy July everyone. Sorry for my truly suck updating skills. But I gotta say, this is the busiest summer I've ever had. I've just been running around with my friends everyday all day and it's been awesome, although I miss writing tons and tons like I usually do during the summer. I will say however that this chapter definitely covers some more ground and speeds stuff along.**

**Thank you to every who reviewed last chapter and everyone who's still willing to wait for my crappy updates and especially thank you to my helpful editor, Dani, The Faceless Warg.  
**

**Enjoy  
**

* * *

Dad! Dad!"

Hohenheim turned at the shouts and saw Alphonse running towards him with Russell, Fletcher, and a blond-haired soldier in tow. Alphonse's face was alight with excitement and possibly fear and he practically ran into Hohenheim once he reached his father.

"Alphonse, what is it?" Hohenheim asked as he placed a hand on his younger son's shoulder.

"Dad, I know where Ed is," he panted. "Or, at least, I know that he's not here anymore." He turned and motioned for the blond soldier to walk forwards. "Jean knew Ed while he was here and he said that Ed got really hurt a while ago but there are rumors that he was taken somewhere else to this place underground and-"

"Hold on, Alphonse, slow down," Hohenheim said, cutting his son off.

"But-"

"I already know that Edward is not here anymore," Hohenheim said carefully.

"You do?" Al asked, looking surprised.

"Yes, we also have directions on how to get to him," he said as he held up the slip of paper Pinako had given him.

"What?" the three blonds chorused.

"We need to get out of here now," Mei said, looking around the slightly deserted area nervously. "We also need to find more supplies before we leave."

"How far away is it?" Al asked as he took at the paper from his father's hand.

"The woman who told us said it might take as much as a week to get there on foot."

"What?" Russell and Fletcher exclaimed, sounding exhausted.

"We need a faster way," Alphonse said quickly. He turned to Jean and, looking slightly desperate, asked, "Can you help us?"

"I can try," Jean said quickly, looking determined. "But I can't promise you anything."

"Well it's better than nothing," Hohenheim said.

"Let's go."

Alphonse, Russell, Fletcher, Hohenheim, and Mei followed Jean through a maze of tents and soldiers until they reached what appeared to be the edge of the battlefield. There were less soldiers and tents and even less noise here.

"Come on, I know there's an abandoned army truck over here," Jean said quietly as he lead them around the few remaining tents.

"We're gonna steal an army truck?" Alphonse asked in a hushed voice, eyes popping slightly. "Are you serious?"

Jean stopped and turned to look at the younger boy while an expression of deep thought washed over his face. He sighed heavily and scratched his head before he spoke again.

"Well, I guess if it makes you feel better, you could tell yourself that you're just_ borrowing_ it from the army," Jean said slowly.

"Come on Al," Russell said. "Let's just hurry up and do this before we get caught by anyone."

"This is for Ed, Al," Fletcher said quietly.

While Alphonse would do anything to find his brother, and even though stealing another car was not all that bad in the grand scheme of bad things one could do, the amount of laws they has broken recently was starting to take a toll on him. However, it only took the idea that he might be reunited with his brother within a couple days to make him not care about stealing.

"Let's go," Alphonse said confidently. Jean nodded and smirked before he continued on through the somewhat deserted area.

"So, Al, can I ask you something?" Jean asked quietly a few moments later.

"Sure."

"I remember Ed telling me that you guys were running away to Xing to stay safe until the war was over," the blond-haired soldier started.

"Yeah, that _was_ the plan," Al said with a heavy sigh.

"What happened?"

"Some guys looking for people who skipped on the draft caught us right about the half-way point through the desert," Alphonse answered. "And then we got carted off to Central with Mei, who was trying to get_ into_ the country."

"Why was she trying to get into the country?" Jean asked, motioning to Mei.

"It is a long story," Mei said quietly. "But I was doing it for my own protection."

"Well no country seems to be very safe at this point," Jean said wisely. "But how'd you get out of Central?"

"We kinda had to escape from a experimental lab of a prison by causing a mass breakout," Russell said in a tone that might be associated with explaining a weather forecast. "You know, no biggie."

"What?" he exclaimed, looking shocked.

"Yeah well, at least we got to find Ed and Al's dad out of that hell," Russell finished.

"So you guys broke out of a prison?" Jean asked, looking at them all in awe. "That's freaking sweet."

"You didn't hear about the breakout?" Hohenheim asked curiously.

"We haven't heard much of anything down here," Jean informed them. "It's like our own little world down here. Nothing comes in and nothing comes out."

"Well that's good to know," Fletcher said. "Seeing as our descriptions were broadcasted on the airwaves earlier today."

A minute later, a slightly rusted and rather dusty army jeep came into view. Jean rushed forwards and after some investigation, found a pair of keys for the jeep. He tossed the keys to Al, who caught them before he jumped into the driver's seat. The others quickly piled inside of the jeep.

"So based on the directions you got, you just need to head straight for a while," Jean said as he glanced at the directions Pinako had given them.

"Alright, thanks so much for all your help, Jean," Alphonse said as he started up the jeep.

"No problem, Al," Jean said. "Your big bro was a great guy and he deserves to see you again."

"I just wish there was something I could do to repay you for this," he said.

"Just get back to your crazy brother and tell him I said hi."

Suddenly from behind them, there was a loud yell. Jean turned around and saw a man in a military uniform, clearly staring right at them. Jean turned back to Al, looking just as panicked as he felt.

"Okay, get the hell outta here, kid," Jean ordered. "You won't be getting very far if you're locked up in another jail."

"Right, thanks again, Je-"

"Just go!" he yelled.

Alphonse nodded before he shifted the car into drive and pressed his foot onto the accelerator and sped off into the distance. He glanced up into the rearview mirror just as the other soldier caught up with Jean, who was waving goodbye at them.

_Thank you, Jean,_ Al thought as he turned away from the mirror_. I don't know what we'd do without you. I'm just glad to know Ed had at least one friend out here… I hope we can see you again._

Alphonse pressed the accelerator down even more, now more determined than ever to reunite with his brother.

* * *

"What the hell was that, Cadet?" Lieutenant Colonel Mustang yelled at Jean as Jean watched the jeep drive away. "Why were there civilians in that army jeep? And where were they going?"

Jean turned back to face the Lieutenant Colonel and stared down at him with a hard expression on his face. He was not going to flinch or back down. Jean knew that what he did was right.

"I was helping out a fellow soldier, sir," Jean answered.

"I saw no soldier in that jeep and it is not within your authority to dole out army vehicles when you think it's necessary!" Roy Mustang continued.

"There was no soldier in the jeep, sir," he continued calmly. "But I was helping reunite a supposed fallen soldier with his loved ones who just wanted to find him."

"What do you mean?" Mustang asked in a quieter voice. "What soldier are you talking about."

"Cadet Edward Elric, sir," he answered slowly. "I believe you remember him? He used to be under your command but after he was injured, he was declared M.I.A."

"…I remember him, Cadet," Mustang said after a rather pregnant pause; Jean noticed the dangerous flash in his eye and knew that the kid was hitting the Lieutenant Colonel where it hurt. "Why does this pertain to him?"

"Well I just received information that the cadet is still alive and well," Jean said. "His younger brother showed up here looking for him and somewhere here, he found information on Elric's location. Now he's off going to find his brother. I volunteered to help him with the task. Elric is still considered part of our squadron and I'm just trying to help him in any way that I can."

Mustang stared at Jean with his dark, slightly hallowed eyes but he did not bulk. The two soldiers stood there for almost an entire minute, where in Jean prepared to deal with everything from court marshals to physical punishment. After a minute, Mustang stepped back, sighed slightly, and let his hardened expression drop slightly.

"Return to your bunk, Cadet."

Jean blinked. He had hoped that the mention Ed, who had clearly effect Mustang, might soften up the hardened Lieutenant Colonel a little but he had not expected it to actually work.

"Did I stutter, Cadet?" Mustang growled, sounding much more like his usual self now. "Or would you rather I rethink my leniency on you?"

"No, sir," Jean said before he quickly saluted the man. "Goodnight, sir."

Jean turned and marched away from Mustang as fast as he could while hoping that Edward really was as safe and sound as everyone claimed him to be.

* * *

"We're here?"

Edward looked up and saw Winry standing over him with her bag slung over her shoulder. He had just been woken up from a nap and saw that everyone in the boxcar was getting up and gathering their belongings.

"Yup. Get up. Time to go," Winry said before she extended a hand towards Edward.

Ed accepted the hand allowed the blond girl to pull him up. The boxcar teetered suddenly, causing Edward and Winry to fall into each other. After a second of contact, Winry jumped back and ran off to help other people, leaving Edward alone.

It had been a couple days since Winry had cried herself to sleep in Edward's arms but ever since then, she seemed to be trying to keep her distance from Ed, even though she was in charge of his exercises and the boxcar gave very little room for privacy. While part of Edward wished that Winry would not be so reclusive from him, a major part of his brain was thankful for it. The lack of Winry meant a lack of clouded judgment for him and it allowed him to think easier. It allowed him to focus on what he must do the second he got out of the boxcar.

Edward needed to get back down south as soon as possible without anyone else interfering. He needed to find a train going south, which would be relatively easy since most trains went south to supply the warzone, and then find his brother before he could get hurt.

Just as Edward finished gathering his belongings, the train lurched one last time before it began to slow down; a minute later, the train stopped completely.

"Alright everyone," Goran said as he stood by the exit. "Time to leave. We need to move quickly and quietly. Follow me and stay together."

Goran pulled the heavy door open and one by one, they jumped out of the train and onto the gravel of the train station. Goran paused for a second before he motioned for everyone to follow him. Edward paused and turned around quickly while he looked for a train car that might be headed south. He had to get out of there soon before he was dragged along somewhere else he didn't want or need to go. Unfortunately for him, someone appeared to have been reading his mind and stopped him before he could go anywhere.

"And where do you think you're going?"

Edward turned and saw Winry standing in front of him, glaring at him ever so slightly. Edward scowled at her slightly, feeling annoyed that this girl would try and break up his plans.

"I need to get out of here and find my brother," Edward answered quickly and harshly. "I don't care about what you guys are doing. I gotta do this on my own."

"No you can't and you won't," Winry said in a harsher voice as she gripped Edward's flesh arm tightly. "You're coming with us and that's an order from your primary physician."

"I don't have to listen to you," he countered as he attempted to jerk his arm out of her grip but failed; she had a rather strong grip. "This doesn't have anything to do with you."

"I don't care. You're not dying just because you wanna go be with your brother this very second."

"Yeah well… remember when you dragged me and Ling and Lan Fan along until we collapsed from exhaustion so that we could find out what happened to your parents?" Ed yelled, feeling anger surge up inside of him. "There was no stopping you then and there's not gonna be any stopping me now!"

Winry looked murderous at that moment but Edward was saved from any sort of assault coming from her by Rollan as he gripped onto both of them and tugged them towards Goran.

"Rollan! Leave me here, dammit!" Edward yelled as he attempted to break out of his grip. "I've got more important shit to do than sit around some army base for another month! I've got to find Al!"

"Well you know what, Ed? You really don't have a choice right now," Rollan growled as he let go of Winry's arm and focused all of his strength on pulling Edward forward. "We just got word that there's some trouble brewing around here and get gotta get up to the base now or we're screwed."

"What do you mean?" Winry asked, looking confused.

"I don't know. It's just what Goran got on his radio a second ago," he said quickly.

"Trouble from where?" she asked.

"I don't know," Rollan answered.

"We're much too far north for the war to affect us," Winry said. "It's one of the reasons we came up here."

"Yeah well, this county's just full problems and we gotta get our asses out of here and back up at the base before we're dead."

Not knowing what else to do, Edward finally complied with Rollan and ran with the others. He thought of how as soon as he could leave the base, he'd be back down here, searching for a good train to back down south. This was nothing more than a bump in the road. Right?

It took them almost an hour to get up the large and supposedly impenetrable fort of the north. Edward certainly had been expecting it to be harder to enter the fort; he had heard some stories about the impenetrable and unstoppable Fort Briggs. However, everything seemed much too quiet and calm. Something was up for sure.

"Where was your brother supposed to meet us?" Goran asked as the hid behind some vegetation.

"He said somewhere along this pass around this time but…" Rollan trailed off as he scanned the large mass of metal. After a moment, his eyes lit up and a man, who looked astonishingly similar to Rollan, appeared. "There you are, bro."

"I can't decide if you have to worst timing in the world or the best," the man said without preamble before he motioned for them all to follow him quickly.

"What's going on?" Rollan asked as they ran along the wall for a while before they entered a hidden doorway. "We've been hearing some weird shit."

"Well I wish it was just weird but unfortunately, it more like a monumental shit-storm," he continued as they ran down the deserted metal passageway.

"What the hell do you mean?" Winry asked as forced her way to the head of the pack.

"Drachma looks as if it's going to attack us any moment," he answered after a deadly quiet pause. "There army is all but knocking on our door."

"But we have a Non-Aggression pact with Drachma!" Edward exclaimed. "Why are they attacking us after so many years of peace!"

"The boss says that it's because they want to strike while we're preoccupied on another war," he growled before he opened a doorway and lead them up some stairs. "But those idiots in Drachma don't seem to realize that we're _never_ distracted up here at the Briggs. They can try and attack but we'll just attack them back harder than they could ever imagine."

While the majority of the group continued to follow after Rollan's brother, Winry, Ed, and Rollan stayed behind. If looks could kill, then the look Winry was giving Rollan would have definitely left him dead and cold on the ground.

"You know, this isn't exactly the safest place to be," she growled between clenched jaws. "If we wanted to stay hidden in a warzone, we might have well just stayed back in the safe house!"

"This is way better than that dinky little shack!" he exclaimed defensively. "Nothing could take down Fort Briggs! We're safe as we can be right now!"

"Safe! We just stepped into World War Three here!"

"We'll be fine! Trust me!"

Winry gave him one last scathing look before she turned and followed the rest of the group, stomping slightly in anger. Rollan turned to Ed and looked at him with a sympathetic expression on his face.

"What?" Edward asked, feeling apprehensive about the look directed at him.

"Boy do I feel sorry for you, kid," he said sadly.

"What do you mean?"

"You sure picked one hell of a woman," he said before he turned and walked up the stairs with the rest of the group, leaving Edward standing alone, feeling particularly dumbfounded.

"What? She's… she's not my woman, okay!"

After a few more hallways and one more set of stairs, Rollan's brother opened a slightly rusted door and flicked on a light switch. The group quickly packed into the rather spacious room and looked around. It appeared to be a forgotten storage room of sorts, with a couple stacks of dusty boxes in the corner. There were a few chairs and a couple old mats to lay on. Rollan opened an even more rusted door and showed them a slightly under-par bathroom, but they had no room to complain after spending so many days locked in a boxcar.

"It's not much but it'll have to do," he said after the tour was finished.

"It's just fine," Rollan said before he walked across the room and embraced the man. "It's more than we could really ask for at this point."

"No problem," he said as the brothers broke their embrace. "I'll send someone down here to check on the patients in a little bit but I really gotta scram right now."

The man turned, marched out of the room, before he paused at the door. He turned around and added, "Remember to be quiet. People may be kinda frazzled right now but someone might come down here if they hear a bunch of screaming, and then we'll all be fucked."

On that note, he yanked the heavy door shut and left them alone; his footsteps could be heard for a few moments in the almost eerie quietness of the abandoned wing of Fort Briggs. While everyone began to settle and prepare to rest, Edward stayed where he stood in the corner, deep in thought. He needed to get out of the monstrous fort now before it was too late. Unfortunately for him, it appeared as if it would be much harder to sneak out again now that they were inside.

_You'll just have to think it through,_ Ed told himself as he felt himself frown. _You have to be patient for one more time and then you can get back on the road and find Al._

Feeling trapped once again, Edward let out a heavy sigh and let himself slip down the metal wall until he was sitting on the ground.

* * *

"Is that it?" Alphonse asked as his father cut the engine on their stolen army jeep.

They all stared at the small, ramshackle shed that stood out from all the lush and wild vegetation. Hohenheim pulled the keys from the ignition and pocketed them while he eyed the shed. They had not seen a single structure for over an entire day and based on the general position he had been able to place on the map, this had to be it, right?

"Be careful," Hohenheim warned as he stepped out of the army truck.

One by one, they disembarked the jeep and walked slowly towards the concrete shack. As they got closer and closer, Alphonse began to hear whispers coming from inside of the building, however, he could not understand a single word that was spoken. Could it be another language? He did not know. All he knew was that his heart was hammering against his chest as he thought about how he could be reunited with his brother in a matter of minutes. His brother could be on the other side of the door…

With a shaking hand, Alphonse gripped onto the rusted door handle and yanked it open with all of his strength. A lot of dust swirled in front of them for a moment, making it hard to see anything distinct in the tiny building besides two large objects in the far corner of the room.

"Ed!" Alphonse yelled as he squinted his eyes against the thick cloud of dust.

One of the figures stood up and Alphonse felt his heart skip a beat. Could it really be his brother? Could they really be together once again after being apart for so long?

"No," said the figure in a slightly accented voice, sounding similar to Mei. "I am not Edward."

"You're… you're not?" Alphonse asked weakly, feeling as if he had been hit with a pile of bricks.

"No. I am not," the stranger continued before he stepped into the light and allowed Alphonse to see that it was not in fact his brother. "But I know who you must be, Alphonse Elric. And I know where you can find you brother."

* * *

**AH! It's the return of Ling and Lan Fan! YAY! :D**

**So I know for sure that the next chapter should be rather interesting for sure and it'll once again, speed things up, but it will bring this story just one chapter closer to its eventual end. :( But that's still a while away from now.  
**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope you leaves me a review because they make me happy face :D  
**

**I'll try to get to updating ASAP.  
**

**-FSK  
**


	38. Come Together

**Oh snap! Look at this! Two updates in one month? I'm on fire.**

**I've actually been able to write tons for this story lately and I'm super happy about my sudden burst of writing inspiration.**

**Thank you to my amazing editor who got this edited so quickly and thank you to every who read and reviewed last chapter. Sorry if there was a problem with the annon reviews, accidentally switched it so that they weren't allowed but I fixed it!  
**

**Enjoy.  
**

* * *

"What the hell is this?"

Edward was woken up roughly from his weak slumber by the loud shout and the bright light that poured into the room from the doorway. He cracked his eyes open and was greeted to the sight of one of the largest and most intimidating men he had ever seen in his life. With black hair shaved into an impressive Mohawk that trailed down into a braid, hard features, body muscles upon muscle, and a what appeared to be some sort of chainsaw-automail contraption for a right arm, this guy was the epitome of not to be fucked with. And Edward was right within firing range.

Edward opened his mouth in a sort of unconscious response but only a low gurgling noise came out. He had no idea what to say or do. All he knew was that they were all completely and utterly screwed.

"Hey!"

Edward looked around the massive man and saw Rollan's brother as he skidded down the hall, looking white as a sheet and more terrified than Edward has ever felt before. The young man stopped at the end of the hall and look up at the large man, who was now glaring at him instead of Edward, which suited Ed just fine; he was too exhausted to deal with this man.

"Neil! What the hell is this?" the large man roared as he turned to Rollan's brother. "What are you doing? This isn't a place for stowaways."

"I know, I know… but," Neil said in what Ed could only assume was his attempt at a calm voice, "they aren't taking up any real space here. They've got their own supplies. And most of them are recovering_automail_patients. What are we supposed to do? Throw them out?"

"Yes. That is exactly what we're supposed to do and that is what we're going to do," the man said in a strong voice. "How did they get in here anyhow?"

"I helped them," he admitted bravely.

"They could be spies!" the man snarled. "Drachma is right up our ass and this is no time to allow house guests! They'll be lucky if the only thing that happens to them is that they get tossed out of here on their asses."

"They aren't spies, Buccaneer!" he yelled. "They are patients from the war down south! They're my own brother's patients! They are obviously not spies!"

"You're brother, ehh?" the Buccaneer asked as he looked about the small room.

Edward watched as Rollan stood up and walked over to the bear-sized man. His face looked calm but as he passed him, Ed could see his hands shaking ever so slightly. He didn't blame him.

"Our temporary recovery place for our patients was invaded by Aeurgo soldiers," Rollan informed the Buccaneer. "We had many patients who were in different stages of recovery and we needed to get them somewhere safe. My brother told me that the people up here also experiment with automail and so we decided to come up here, where we might be able to get some proper care."

The buccaneer glared down at Rollan for a moment before he pointed at him, with his rather menacing piece of automail, and asked, "You're the main mechanic here?"

"Actually," Winry spoke up from behind Ed as she stood up, looking completely relaxed and not the least bit intimidated by the man, "I'm the main mechanic here."

"You?" he asked skeptically.

Edward could see Winry puff up, clearly feeling indignant to the man's skeptical voice. She placed her hands on her hips and gave the Buccaneer a harsh and determined stare.

"Yup. Designed and built them all from scratch," she said, her voice dripping in self-pride. "Every last one of them."

The Buccaneer continued to stare at Winry with a skeptical expression on his face for almost an entire minute. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he opened his mouth to speak but he was quickly cut off by the loud wails of a siren. A bright yellow emergency light started shining in the corner of the room and the siren seemed to be coming from every corner of the room.

"What the hell is that?" Edward asked as he clamped his hands over his ears.

"Those damn Drachmans," the Buccaneer growled.

He turned to leave the room but paused for a moment to glare at the stowaways before he added, "I'll be back to deal with you all later." The Buccaneer then turned around and began running down the hallway, leaving the stowaways alone once again.

* * *

"You know where Ed is?" Alphonse asked the dark-haired boy slowly before something in his brain seemed to kick into place and suddenly, a million questions were pouring out of his mouth. "How do you know where he is? How do you know him? Why isn't Ed here like that lady said he was supposed to be? Where is he now? How-?"

Alphonse was sure he still had a million more questions to ask but before he could continue, Mei cut him off. The small, usually quite young woman sprang forwards, pushed Alphonse out of the way, and yelled out as she pointed an accusatory finger at the boy.

"Ling! What are you doing here?" she shouted, looking angry.

"I could ask you the same question, Mei," the boy, Ling, said in an almost bored voice.

"You will keep your distance from him if you know what's good for you," growled the young woman who was sitting next to Ling as she sprung up, looking ready to fight.

"Ah, Lan Fan, of course you'd be here," Mei sneered. "Can't go more than a foot without your trusty guard dog at your side, eh Ling?"

"Wait, how do you all know each other?" Russell asked, looking just as confused as Al felt. This wasn't making any sense.

"I am Mei's elder brother," Ling informed them all after a pause.

"Half-brother," Mei corrected with a small bite in her voice.

"Ah yes, let's not forget that half that unfortunately tethers you to me," Ling sighed as he rolled his eyes.

"The brat is lucky she shares common blood with the young prince," the girl, Lan Fan, snapped back as she glared daggers with Mei.

"Wait,_prince?_" Fletcher asked as he stared at them all with curiosity written all over his face. "You're a prince?"

"That is correct," Ling said as he smiled a slightly smug smile at them. "One of many prices of the mighty kingdom of Xing."

"If it's so mighty, why don't you go back there?" Mei spat.

"Oh, with all those assassins running about? I wouldn't want to waste my time fighting them all off," he said with a wave of his hand.

"Wait, wait, wait," Alphonse said, stepping forwards while he let his confusion wash over his face. "If Ling's a prince and he's your half-brother, does that mean that you're a…"

"A princess? Why yes, it does," Mei said, sounding proud. "I am one of the many princesses of Xing."

"What?" they all exclaimed in surprise.

"Did I not tell you I was royalty?" Mei asked.

"Uh, no," Russell said. "I think I would remember something like that."

"If you're all royalty, why are you here?" Fletcher asked.

"Never mind that," Al said as he cut across the younger boys question. "What about Edward? You said you knew where to find him. We need to get to him as soon as we can."

"Ah, yes, of course, your brother," Ling said with a nod as his face returned to a calm and pensive expression. "He is currently on his way to Fort Briggs of the North with several other automail patients."

"What?" the group of men all exclaimed once again.

"Yes. He might have already arrived there, now that I think of it."

"Automail?" Alphonse asked, feeling confused.

"Ah… yes, I'm sorry to be the one to inform you of this, but your brother was wounded badly during a battle he was fighting in the war," Ling started in a somber voice.

"Wait, is… is he okay?" Al exclaimed as his golden-brown eyes popped out of his skull slightly.

"He is now, or at least, he was when he left the area about a week ago," Ling said.

"Well then… what happened to him?" the younger Elric continued, although part of him was not sure if he wanted to hear the true extend of Edward's injuries.

"He lost his right arm and part of his left leg," Ling informed them.

"What?" Al cried, feeling as if he might get sick any moment now. "He lost… brother lost… his_arm_… and a_leg_?_How does that sound alright to you!"_

"He was equipped with automail prosthetics and is very capable of getting around on them."

"Automail?" Alphonse repeated. "I don't know what that is."

"Lan Fan," Ling said as he motioned for his companion to come forward. "Show him."

The young woman raised her covered left arm for a moment before she pulled the sleeve back in one swift motion, revealing to all the shiny and carefully crafted piece of metal that attached to her flesh at the shoulder.

Alphonse stared down at the metal contraption, feeling awe and something akin to fear brew inside of him. The prosthetic was clearly crafted perfectly and was something to marvel at… but it just made him sick to his stomach as he tried to imagine the similar piece of metal on his brother as it replace two of his limbs. He just couldn't picture it. He didn't want to picture it. Alphonse turned way from the girl and looked directly at Ling as he felt a need so powerful he could not properly explain well up inside of him.

"How can we get up north?"

"I can take you there," Ling said confidently. "We'll travel up north with you."

"You will?" Hohenheim asked.

"Yes, we've been cooped up here long enough waiting for people who never showed up," Ling said with a heavy sigh. "We need to stretch our legs. We just need to do one thing before we leave."

* * *

"Drachma's attacking us?" Goran asked in a stunned voice.

"Why are they attacking us?" Winry asked, looking immensely pissed off.

"I thought we had some sort of treaty with them so that they wouldn't attack us," Edward barked, feeling irritated at the fact that his country was fighting once again, especially when Amestris's last battle hadn't even ended yet.

"Drachma was one of the only countries that wasn't fighting us," Rollan muttered as he scratched his chin.

"Yeah well, the treaty has gone right out the window it seems," Neil shouted as he lit a cigarette and inhaled.

"Why?" Winry asked in a quieter voice.

"Who the hell knows," Neil exclaimed, sounding exasperated. "Drachma's always been itching to get us. I was always surprised that they had signed a treaty with us at all. I always knew that this would happen eventually though."

"So that's it then. We're just stuck in yet another war?" Winry barked.

"It seems to be the general consensus that if we don't do something quickly that yeah, we're gonna be trapped in two wars at once," Neil informed her.

"Figures," she sighed before she turned away and muttered something that Ed couldn't quite catch.

"What did you say?" Ed asked as he walked over to the blond girl.

"Nothing, nothing," she mumbled as she waved her hand about. "Just something that… that my mom told me, alright?" Her sentence ended with a harsh snap but Edward sure it was more to stop her voice from breaking from grief than anything else. Winry turned away slightly for a moment while she collected herself before she turned back to face Edward. "My mom used to say this one line after she came back from Ishval. This saying some patient kept telling her. It was something like, 'There will always be the perpetual circle of hate as long as man is alive, and thus we create perpetual conflict and-'."

"'And a perpetual war is created'," Edward finished as he thought back to the one day long ago back in the underground hideout. Winry gave him a questioning look but Edward shrugged. "Your mom told me that one day when she came to check on me. It always just kinda stuck with me, seeing as this country really is trapped in a perpetual war."

Winry nodded her head before she turned away and retreated to the far corner of the room where she could sit alone with her thoughts. Edward felt an urge to join her, but he resisted and stayed put where he stood. Winry needed time alone to grieve still. He would let her be.

Edward turned to look at the other men, who were still talking about the approaching Drachman army, when he noticed an odd crackling noise coming from somewhere in the room. He questioned Neil and Rollan if they heard the noise as well.

"The radio!" Rollan exclaimed as he ran for his pack that sat across the room and began digging inside of it. After almost a minute of digging, he pulled out the small radio, which was sputtering as someone's broken voice crackled into the room.

"The radio?" Winry asked, having recovered temporarily. "But who would be trying to contact us here?"

They all watched as Rollan fiddled around with the radio for almost a full minute before the voice that was sputtering out became a clear and coherent sound. They all paused to listen to the message that was spoken in a rather familiar voice.

"_…Can you hear me?_"

"Yes we can hear you, what's the message?" Rollan asked.

"And who the hell is this?" Winry snapped as she ran over and bent close to the radio, looking confused and possibly even a little hopeful.

_"It is Ling, from the hideout back at the border."_

"Ling?" Ed exclaimed as he stared at the radio from across the room.

"Yes, yes, what's the message?" Rollan asked again. "What's happening."?

_"We are informing you that me and Lan Fan are going to make our way north,"_ Ling said as the reception on the radio began to fail once again. _"We… going to… corting some people."_

"Escorting people?" Rollan asked as he attempted to fix the failing radio transmission. "Who?"

_"'phonse …ric,"_ Ling's voice crackled incoherently through the radio.

"What?"

_"Al…se El….c. Ho…hiem… ric…_"

"I can't understand you, Ling, say that again," Rollan ordered as he frantically tried to fix the faulty radio.

_"A…ph…nse…ic…hiem el…"_ Ling stuttered as his voice began to fade away. _"Ed's…_"

The transmission cut off. Rollan swore and persisted to mess with the knobs and antenna for several minutes after, although everyone informed him to stop. Told him that it was not worth working so hard to find out exactly who Ling and Lan Fan would be bringing up.

Edward, however, was still rooted in the same spot he was minutes before when the radio first went off. The crackling voice of his friend rang through his ears and with each passing minutes, he grew more and more sure of what he heard on the fractured radio waves.

He was sure he had heard his own name at the end of the message but more importantly than anything else, Ed was sure he heard another name that Ling was trying to say. He knew who it had to be because who else would be at the secret hideout? Who had just escaped a prison in Central and was said to be headed south, where he was thought to be? Who would be smart enough to figure out where he was now?

There really was only one answer to these questions.

"Alphonse."

* * *

**Oooh, Ed and Al are getting closer to their big reunion! Who else is pumped? Cuz I am, and I know what's gonna happen.**

**And return of Ling and Lan Fan; who doesn't love them?  
**

**I'm working on the next chapter and hopefully I'll have it finished and up soon.  
**

**Thanks for reading, please drop off a review. :)  
**

**-FSK  
**


	39. Perpetual Warzone

**Hey readers! Update time!**

**So, I'm kinda bummed because I have exactly two weeks of summer left; where the hell did my summer go?! But that means that I'll start my _final_ year of high school in two weeks, which is a kind of mind-fuckery I can't even begin to comprehend; wasn't I just a freshmen, like, two seconds ago?! -_- Let my college freakout begin.  
**

**Well, I hope everyone else is having a good summer. Enjoy.  
**

* * *

The boxcar shook terribly as it made its way up the old train tracks. Fractions of sunlight peaked through the many cracks in the old boxcar, which allowed enough light to see. Alphonse stretched out his legs in front of him and rubbed his sore shoulder before he leaned back against the wooden crate he had been sitting against for hours. Alphonse looked across the small space they had in the car that was not taken up by large wooden crates and looked at his traveling companions.

Ling and Lan Fan sat at the opposite side of the boxcar from him, conversing in quiet Xingese, as they had been doing for most of the journey already. Russell and Fletcher were sitting to his right; both looked extremely weary and were currently sleeping against each other. His father sat to his far left as he stared over a large map, seemingly in his own world. Al looked to his direct left and saw Mei, who had fallen asleep as well. Her small, dark head leaned against Al's shoulder as she slept, which was just fine with Al.

Alphonse let out a large yawn and let his head rest on top of the small teenage girl's head. He felt tired, exhausted even, but for whatever reason, he just could not fall asleep. He closed his eyes and tried to will himself asleep, but deep down, Al had a feeling he would not fall asleep for a while. There was something deep down inside of him, probably the anticipation of finally seeing his brother again, that was keeping him up. It was like a never-ending surge of adrenaline that made it not only impossible for him to sleep, but also do something as simple as sit still for more than a minute.

Four days. It would take four days until they would arrive at the north-most point of Amestris. Four days until he could see his brother again. Four days until he could see just how alright his brother really was; no matter how long he inspected Lan Fan's automail, he just couldn't picture the cool, hard metal on his brother.

_At least he's alive,_Alphonse reminded himself as he opened his eyes and stared out into the distance_. It could be much worse… he's lucky_.

Alphonse felt his gut twist uncomfortably as it filled with worry and apprehension. He tried to think of what Ling had told him as they made their way to the train tracks.

"_You're brother had almost completely mastered the use of his automail by the time we separated. With the way the Winry girl trains him, I'm sure he's achieved full mobility with them by now,"_Ling had informed him. But when Alphonse did not seem convinced, the Xing boy placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "_Your brother is just fine. Things could be so much more worse than they are right now, you know."_

Yes. Alphonse knew very well that worse things could have happened to Edward. He felt sick to his stomach every time he thought of worse things that could have happened to his brother. If anything good could come from this dark train of thought, it was that he felt better about his brother's current state.

_At least he's out of there now_, Alphonse thought as he rubbed his weary face._He's out of the warzone right now and he's not going back. He won't have to risk getting hurt for some pointless war anymore._

Feeling his exhaustion rise up inside of him, Alphonse closed his eyes, readjusted himself, and hoped that maybe he could finally get some sleep now.

* * *

_Alphonse… where the hell are you now?_

Edward stared at the now silent radio, as he had been doing for several hours, while he silently willed for a voice to come out of it again. He knew deep inside that the others would not try and contact them again, but he still continued to wait. Because the next time the radio sputtered to life, he would be the one to answer it. He would hear not Ling's voice, but his brother's voice and hear the incontrovertible proof that he was on his way north and that he was okay.

"Staring at the radio won't make them call again," Winry said as she stood over him.

"Yeah well, seeing as I'm trapped in this metal fortress, it's all I can do," Ed snapped in a much harsher voice than he should have used. He glanced up at Winry and saw her scowling at his tone. Ed sighed and ran his flesh fingers through his messy hair, feeling suddenly very exhausted. "Sorry."

Winry stared down over him for another moment, still scowling, before she let out a sigh, dropped her scowl, and sat down next to Edward.

"It's alright," she said quietly as she stared at the radio. "I understand worrying about family members."

Edward turned to look at Winry, feeling a wave of harsh emotions wash over him. He felt horrible for admitting it, even to himself, but he sometimes forgot that Winry had just very recently lost both of her parents. After the initial meltdown right after she learned the news of her parent's demise, she had thrown herself into her work as hard as she could and hardly ever showed her grief. Edward remembered the one night on the train that Winry had fallen apart and he remembered how he comforted her until she fell asleep…

He felt that same weird tug in the pit of his stomach he felt a few other times when he was in close proximity to Winry and he turned away as he felt his face heat up, refocusing on the silent radio.

"I'm alright," Winry said in a quiet, somewhat exasperated voice.

Edward glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and saw the while she did look rather sad again, she was at least not crying, which was a relief to Edward.

"You sure?" he asked as he took in her watery blue eyes.

"Not really," she admitted as she pulled her legs into her and rested her head on top of her knees. "But I'm as okay as I can be right now, I guess…"

Winry stared forwards with unfocused eyes for another moment while Edward continued to watch for any signs of extreme distress. Finally, she blinked, shook her head like a dog who was trying to get water out of its ears, and let out a harsh sigh.

"It's weird to think that they're really gone," she admitted quietly. "I mean, for long periods of my life, they were gone while they helped out on some dumb war or something like that, so I'm used to them not being here."

Edward nodded his head and remembered back to the time when Sara had informed him how upset Winry was when they had to leave her behind to help somewhere.

"I don't think it's really hit me yet," Winry continued slowly as she stared at her knees. "I don't want it to hit me though… I think it might just be easier to keep imagine them in some far away place, helping others like always."

Edward crinkled his brow as he thought about the words Winry had just said. He thought about what everyone chose to believe about the afterlife. How their family members weren't really gone, but just somewhere far away, happy and healthy, waiting for them to join them. Edward, being a strictly scientific man, found it incredibly hard and idiotic to imagine a bunch of dead people floating amongst the clouds as they laughed and ate cake. He knew from a very early age that when people died, they didn't go up into the clouds and celebrate. Their bodies slowly rotted in the ground, their mind and soul gone to the world forever with no proof of where it went. He thought of how after his own mother had died and how he knew that she was really gone from the world forever and how he would never see her again, in this life or in any make-believe afterlife. Edward remembered how Alphonse had tried to convince him that there was an afterlife where they would see her again, but he had gotten angry with Alphonse and made the still grieving boy cry, which he regretted instantly.

Even though Winry had not said her parents were in the mythical heaven, she implied it. There was a part of Edward, somewhere deep down inside of him that wanted desperately to correct her and inform her that her parents were not living on, waiting for her in spirit form. However, thinking back to when he corrected Alphonse and made him cry, he forced the more analytical and factual side of him away and decided on saying something completely different from what he would normally say.

"It'll hit you eventually," he said quietly while his brain worked to try and say something more comforting than what he wanted to say. "No matter how hard you try to think otherwise."

Winry turned to look at him. Her eyes were still watery and sad but her frown showed him that she wanted to be angry with him but just couldn't right now. He understood; he could have said something a_little_more comforting, but he felt it was much better than his alternative so she had no real right to be mad at him.

"Well duh, brainless," she muttered angrily as she turned away from him.

Edward was sparred from having to say anything by the loud wailing of the alarms. The yellow emergency lights flashed obnoxiously and everyone fell silent while they waited for something or someone to inform them what was going on. Finally, after almost a minute, the door opened, revealing Neil, who was sweaty and panting, as if he had just run a mile in a minute.

"What's going on?" Winry demanded as she stood up; Edward could not help but notice how quickly she managed to force the sadness from her face. "What's happening?"

"What's going on, bro?" Rollan asked as he stood up and walked towards his brother.

"Drachma," Neil panted.

"What about Drachma?" Winry persisted. "I thought you guys were taking care of it."

"Yeah, you guys are the great defense or whatever, right?" Ed asked, thinking back to storied he had heard about the infamous Fort Briggs.

"We don't know how… but Drachma has sure stepped up its game," Neil panted as he attempted to catch his breath.

"What do you mean?"

"They are currently bombing the shit out of us," Neil informed them.

"How?" Ed asked.

"We don't know how, but they are and they're doing it hard," the man said, catching his breath.

It didn't make sense to Edward. From everything he had heard, Drachma had always been a rather militaristic country, sure, but they were still supposed to be miles behind Amestris's arsenal. However, Drachma was also a rather secretive country, so who knew what exactly they were doing. It was a great strategy, Ed realized. Arrogant Amestris would underestimate any attack from Drachma, who they've beaten more times than anyone can properly record or remember, and when they went into battle, expecting the usual weak and unprepared soldiers, they would be blown back by a strong army. It was rather ingenious.

"What are the casualties?" Edward asked as his brain began to tap into the military training that had been forced into his brain months before.

"We've lost a squadron of men but the main damage is to the actual Fort," Neil informed him quickly. "The bombs are way more powerful than we anticipated and a few have actually breached the building. At this rate, those bastards are going to break inside."

"What are you doing to stop it?"

"We're sending just as many bombs back at them," Neil answered quickly.

"And is that stopping them at all?"

"Well it's definitely holding them back for the time being," he answered quickly. "But the Drachmans have some pretty sturdy tanks that are stopping the brunt of the blows."

"So you're basically at a stalemate?"

"Well, not for long," Neil said, looking a little uneasy. "I'm sure the big and bad Queen will pull out the big guns any moment now."

"What exactly are the big guns?" Winry asked in a slightly nervous voice.

Just as Neil opened his mouth to speak, an enormous explosion sounded from just above them. The entire room shook with an almost sickening strength and before anyone could regain their lost bearings, the lights went off and they were plunged into darkness.

A few people in the room let out screams of fright and worry but Edward focused on the shouts and the pounding footsteps he heard right above him. As the yellow safety lights began to flicker feebly, Edward turned and ran right out the door, while he ignored the voices from behind him.

He took the stairs two at a time and did his best to ignore the painful stinging sensation of his left knee that grew with every step. The more he ascended the steps, the worse the condition of the fort became. Edward heard loud and almost panicked shouts from the top of the stairs and smelled the awful acrid smell of burning oil. The heat and the smoke increased with each step and Edward knew that he would not enjoy what he found when he finally reached the source of the commotion.

Finally, he reached the door that lead to the next floor, but when he went to open it, he found it jammed. Mustering up all of his strength from inside, Edward took a step backwards before he rammed the metal door with his automail shoulder, a decision he almost immediately regretted when he felt the still-raw nerves scream in pain. Ed closed his eyes against the almost blinding pain and bit down on his bottom lip to stop himself from screaming out. After a few seconds, the pain lessened considerably until it was merely a dull throbbing in his shoulder that he could easily ignore. He opened his eyes after another moment to find the door wedged open slightly. Using his flesh hand, Ed pushed the door open until it was big enough for him to slip his body through.

On the other side of the door, Edward saw complete disarray. Fires burned and metal shrapnel lay about, looking more like crumple paper than torn up metal. There was a large, gaping hole on the exterior wall and even from this distance, Ed could see the hole lead outside. After clambering carefully over piles of hot and twisted shrapnel, Edward dared to peer out the hole. He felt his jaw drop slightly at what he had seen.

Luckily, the hole was too high for anyone to climb through it; as Edward looked down, he saw that he was at least forty feet above the hard ground. However, that was a small victory compared to the rows upon rows of men dressed in thick black uniforms along with the large quantity of heavy artillery. Edward stared down at them, sure that he was nothing more than a speck to those below, and wonder just how those weapons below had caused all this damage above.

He heard a shout from below and watched as a few men below milled about one of the large pieces of machinery, too shocked to really think about where he was and what he was doing. Edward watched out of the corner of his eye as one of the large weapons was blown to nothing more than useless scrap metal by a humungous bomb from the Fort.

Suddenly, Edward's ears were filled with nothing but the sounds of infinite gunfire, bursting bombs, and the painful screams of the wounded. His nostrils filled with the smells of gunfire and cigarette smoke and blood and a wave of nausea crashed over him. He closed his eyes in an attempt to block out the noises and smells but instead of seeing the pleasant blackness of the inside of his eyelids, he saw only more fire and doom and destruction.

_Stop…_Edward silently begged as he opened his eyes, looked around, and saw only more fire and destruction. He closed his eyes again but to no avail; the fire and pain was still there in front of him, as if he had never closed his eyes._Just stop. Please. I'm begging you._

Not knowing what else to do and feeling completely trapped, Ed clamped his hands over his ears in an attempt to block out the noises that were now running wild through his rattled brain. Feeling weaker than he had ever felt before, Edward crouched down onto his knees and silently willed for something, anything, to get him out this hell.

"What the fuck are you doing?" shouted a angry and worried voice that clearly belonged to a young woman that he recognized from somewhere. "This is no time to play hide and seek! We need to get the fuck out of here before they drop more bombs!"

A hand gripped his flesh arm tightly and jerked him upwards. Feeling disorientated and weak, Edward blindly followed after the girl as she tugged him along through the destroyed room until they had returned to the slightly safer area of the stairwell. Once he was sitting down on the cool metal steps again, Edward let out a deep breath and shook himself while he tried to rid himself of the dream-like state he seemed to be in.

"What the hell was that?" the voice yelled. "You could have just been exploded all over by a bomb!"

Edward looked up and saw long, blond hair, a soot-covered face, and annoyed, deep blue eyes.

"Winry…" he said weakly, coughing slightly as his lungs attempted to get rid of the smoke that he had breathed in during his minor episode.

"Yeah, it's me!" she growled; Edward noted the something in her eyes- was it worry?- dissipated after he responded to her.

"What are you doing here?" Ed asked as he ran his flesh fingers through his dirty bangs.

"Saving your ass, that's what I'm doing!" she yelled. She glared at him for another moment, looking as if she wanted to hit the blond-haired man, before she turned away and sat on the step next to Edward.

"What… what was going on out there?" he asked, still feeling extremely disorientated; it was really pissing him off now, he just wanted to be back to normal already.

"What was going on out there?" Winry asked, sound rather weary as she wiped her dirty face off with her faded bandana. "A war was starting._That's _what was happening."

* * *

**Looks like Ed's in trouble once again, but Al will be back with him soon! And don't forget Ed will not only reunite with Al but with his Daddy! You'll all just have to stick around to see how that works out.**

**I'll try and get the next chapter up before I start school... but that's a bit of a stretch I feel. If nothing else, I'll try and get it up by the end of the month.  
**

**Thanks for reading and please send a review my way! :D  
**

**-FSK  
**


	40. A Helping Hand

**Hello readers.**_  
_

**Sorry for the delay but me and my editor are busy with school-related junk and it sucks. Well, it doesn't suck that much for me, seeing as I don't have to be to school until 10:30. Thank you lazy senior schedule. (Although I wouldn't say it's so lazy when I signed up for both Calculus and English class at the local community college.)  
**

**But here's the new chapter, hope you enjoy. Thanks for everyone who reviewed last chapter and thank you to my beta who edited this for me.  
**

* * *

_A war starting…_Another _war was starting._

Edward waited for the words to sink in but no matter how he tried, the words, although he knew were the truth, just could not be real. He didn't want the words to be real. Amestris was already struggling along in another war, how could they enter another one when they were just barely fending of the first war?

Edward felt a cold, churning sensation in the pit of his stomach and knew that whatever this was, whether a war or just a bad battle, would not end well. He thought of how his last stint in a warzone had ended and wondered how long he would be able to keep his remaining flesh limbs.

He turned to Winry watched as she opened her mouth, possibly to say something. However, another large explosion from behind them drowned out the words she was about to say. The room they had just escaped exploded and the door flew open, revealing a large wave of flames and hot shrapnel. Not thinking and only doing, Edward lunged forward and forced Winry down with his automail arm, hoping that maybe it could possibly block some of the oncoming shrapnel. Edward hunched over the blond woman in an attempt to protect her from any other oncoming harm.

After almost a minute, Edward was sure the worst was over and he allowed himself to let go of Winry, ignoring his odd and unexplained wish to continue holding the blond. He quickly glanced at Winry and once he saw she was unharmed, he took a quick inventory of his own body. The worst of his wounds seemed to be a lot of singed hair and some tenderness around the flesh near his shoulder port. Nothing rather detrimental to his health.

Winry turned to look at Edward with a slightly stunned expression on her face. If they were not in a warzone, he might have stopped to poke fun at the expression. Instead, Edward stood up and helped lift the blonde-haired woman from her sitting position.

"Don't mention it," Edward said as he gripped her hand tightly and began leading her down the stairs to safety. "You saved me earlier, we're equal."

"You didn't have to though," Winry said as she followed behind Edward. "I would have been just fine."

Edward ground his jaw while he thought of the words he actually wanted to say, how she could not possibly know that she would have been fine so she should just accept the help he offered like any normal person. However, somehow, he managed to keep his true words deep down inside and instead, he merely shook his head and continued leading her down the stairs, until they found them blocked by a collapsed ceiling.

"This way," Winry said as she took the lead and led him up a few steps before they turned down a clear hallway.

They pushed open a door and found themselves in the middle of a mass panic as soldiers ran about, screaming orders and messages at each other. Ed knew that they were supposed to stay hidden but he had a feeling their presence would not really be noticed in the midst of this level of disorientation. Gripping onto Winry's hand tightly, so that they would not loose each other in the mob, Edward ran down the hall to the left, hoping that it would lead them somewhere helpful, like another stairwell that could take them back to their hiding place.

Unfortunately for him, the Fort Briggs appeared to be something of a maze. This floor appeared to be completely different from the floor below it and it left Edward and Winry confused and lost in a mob of people.

"We need to get out of here before someone spots us," Edward said as he pulled him and Winry against the metal wall just in time to avoid being smashed by a number of soldiers.

"No shit," Winry mumbled while she looked frantically around for a hiding spot. After several moments of searching, Winry's blue eyes zeroed in on a slightly hidden alcove that stood halfway down the hallway. She lifted her free hand and pointed at it. "There. Let's move it!"

Winry ran forward through the fray, tugging Edward along with surprising strength. They were jostled around by another sea of soldiers but eventually, the two made it to their destination.

Another, smaller explosion rattled the crowded hallway and only succeeded in disorientating more of the passing soldiers. If possible, more noise filled the already loud hallway as the soldiers barked more and more orders back and forth. Edward noticed a stream of rather panicked and soot covered soldiers pass by them and quickly pushed Winry inside the alcove, despite her protests. Edward hunkered down next to her and managed to pull a small metal cart out to block the opening of the space making the pair completely invisible in the chaos.

"Hopefully we'll be able to get out of here soon," Edward muttered as Winry pressed against him; the space was tight but they were hidden and out of the way.

"Hopefully we can find our way back downstairs," Winry sighed as she attempted to adjusted herself into a more comfortable position but only succeeded in pressing against Ed's side more, which only caused his face to heat up for reasons he was quite sure. He was rather thankful the alcove was dim, which allowed his red face to hide.

Another passing group rushed by the hiding place, their feet thundering past so fast that they sounded like a herd of wild animals stampeding, and knocked the cart out of the way, exposing Edward and Winry once again.

Edward reached out with his automail hand and gripped onto the metal cart before it could roll away down the hall. With a snap, he pulled it back and managed to slide back into his hiding place right before another much more powerful explosion rang through the hallway.

* * *

Alphonse found himself woken up for the fifth time in the past hour. While he felt exhausted, his body and mind did not seem to want to fall asleep for very long at all. His neck ached terribly from the odd position he had slept in and there was a hollowness in his stomach from hunger that never wanted to be ignored for long. Wincing slightly from the pain in his neck, Alphonse looked around the boxcar. Ling and Lan Fan were now fast asleep and Fletcher and Russell stirred occasionally but were still stuck in their own dream world. Mei was now curled up against his side, looking completely at peace with the world; Al wished he could be as lucky. His father, however, was still wide-awake as he continued to pore over books and map while he scribbled things down onto scraps of paper.

"Alphonse," Hohenheim spoke quietly a moment later as he glanced up at his younger son through his glasses. "What's the matter?"

"I just can't sleep," Al admitted with a shrug.

"Understandably so," Hohenheim said as he set down the book he held in his hand and gave his son his complete attention.

Alphonse dropped his father's gaze and stared down at his lap. Even though he had been in his father's constant company for a week now, there was still an awkwardness that filled the air whenever the two were alone together. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Alphonse hadn't seen his father for seven years until last week.

"So… so how were you boys doing? Before you got dragged into this mess I mean," Hohenheim stuttered as he wiped his glasses off on his shirt. Alphonse remembered in the back of his head that his father tended to clean his glasses whenever he was feeling uneasy. It made Al smile. "Were you in school or working…?"

"I was in school, Ed was working," Al answered quickly before he glanced at Russell and Fletcher. "Russ was working with Ed and going to school with me and Fletch was finishing up his school."

"Hmm…" Hohenheim mumbled as he glanced through his rather clean glasses. "Edward wasn't in school then?"

"No. He worked at this little store with Russ. He always said he was following your advice in not standing out," he said quietly.

"Well, we see how great that plan worked out," the older man muttered darkly to himself as he pushed his glasses back onto his face.

"It wasn't your fault, Dad," Alphonse said as he looked up at his father and stared into those eye that were so identical to Edward's. "It probably would have worked just fine if the draft hadn't been initiated again."

"Yes well, if the draft hadn't happened, you and Edward would have just wasted your potential for nothing," Hohenheim said with an angry tinge in his voice. "Sometimes I feel things would have just been easier if you came to the laboratory with me."

"I probably would have still ran away," Alphonse said as he felt anger bubble up inside of him. "I would have rather run away than used other people as lab rats."

Hohenheim looked up at Alphonse with a slightly startled expression on his face. The two blond-haired men stared at each other for a moment before Hohenheim let his gaze drop to the floor of the boxcar.

"I wish I could have run away like you boys tried to," he said, sounding more exhausted than Alphonse thought possible. "But maybe if I hadn't told Edward to keep a low profile, he probably would not have gotten hurt the way he did. Just makes me think of everything that could have gone very differently…"

Alphonse frowned slightly as he felt the anger that had so quickly surged up inside of him dissipated almost as quickly. He thought of Ed, and how painful it must have been to not only loose the limbs, but gain them back in heavy metal forms. Maybe things would have been better if Edward had been recruited to work at the lab instead of being recruited as a soldier.

"You don't know how things would have wound up, Dad," Al said. "You don't know if telling Ed to stay hidden was a good idea or not, so you can't blame yourself for how things turned out."

"I just feel as if I should have done something differently," Hohenheim continued. "We escaped the laboratory. How hard would it have been for me to escape on my own? How hard would have it been to take you boys to another country with me and start a new life somewhere safer? I can't help but picture all the alternatives."

"You did the best you could, Dad," Al said quietly while he felt his heart twist at his father's obvious turmoil.

"I'm sorry, Alphonse, but I don't feel as if I really did the best I could."

Hohenheim looked up at his son finally, looking somehow decades older than he had moments before. The light from the lantern that sat a foot away from the man caused his glasses to opaque and hid his golden eyes from view. Alphonse felt shivers run up his spin as he stared at his father, suddenly feeling as if he were staring at a ghost.

"You boys didn't need me," he said in a low voice. "That's clear enough from how well off you are, Alphonse."

"We did need you, Dad," Alphonse said as he leaned forward, suddenly desperate for contact and affection from his father that he had not received in almost a decade. "We still need you."

Hohenheim stared at his son for a moment before a bitter smile came to his face and he moved his glasses slightly, allowing Al to see the warm golden irises.

"As much as I would love to believe that, you don't need me," he said calmly, without a trace of bitterness or sadness in his voice. "You two are grown and if you didn't need me when you were boys, you definitely don't need me now."

Alphonse closed his eyes and thought back to those first horrible weeks after their father had left them. Edward had tried to shoulder every last responsibility and wouldn't allow Alphonse to lift a finger. Al remembered how he had longed for someone, anyone to show him affection like his parents used to, but even his brother's affection was hard to come by. Al knew that his brother had only been grieving in his own way and didn't blame him for distancing himself from Al, but it still hurt. Alphonse remembered going to their mother's grave and sobbing, begging with all of his heart for his mother to come back and for their father to return so that they could be a family again. He remembered being filled with a desperation so painful that nothing could make it go away. He would have done anything to bring his mother back to life and have his father return.

Eventually Edward stopped ignoring him and slowly became more affectionate and understanding that made Alphonse anguish slowly dissipate until it had almost disappeared completely. However, no matter how many years passed, there was almost a jagged little piece, deep down inside of Alphonse that resisted any sort of acceptance or resolution. There was a piece deep inside that still ached from missing his father and mother and wished that everything could still go back to the way things were before.

Alphonse felt that jagged little piece throb painfully inside of him as he stared at his father, who looked just as he did seven years ago. Al opened his mouth and when he spoke, he felt and sounded ten-years-old again.

"You are going to come back, aren't you? When this is all over, you'll come back home and live with me and Ed again, right?"

"I would love to," Hohenheim said, smiling a warmer smile now. "If I can manage to live in peace with you boys, I would love nothing more than to do so."

"If you can manage…?"

"Alphonse, even if I'm allowed to leave the Laboratory for good, there is the chance that I could be tried and arrested for what I did while working there."

"But… but you didn't want to do those things! You were forced to do those things! How could the government arrest you for doing things you were told to do?! It doesn't make sense."

"It doesn't indeed," Hohenheim said heavily. "This country is in some definite need to change. Hopefully someday soon, we'll get the change the country needs and maybe then we won't be forced to live under its ridiculous rule. All of this fighting and bloodshed, squabbling over land and the people who live there, it isn't good for a country. If we don't stop soon, we'll end up destroying this country."

Hohenheim stared at the ground for a moment, looking rather deep in thought as he crinkled his forehead. Finally, after a long pause, he looked up at Al with a light smile, looking a little more at ease.

"But it is rather late, son," he said. "Maybe it would be best if you tried to get some rest?"

"It wouldn't hurt," Al sighed, feel a wave of exhaustion hit him suddenly. "Goodnight, Dad."

"Night, Alphonse."

* * *

Heat and light roared past Edward as he tried to stay out of the way of the flames as best as he could. He heard people scream and scramble as they tried to get out of the way of the destruction but he also heard the awful noises of people who were caught up in the explosion.

Edward felt himself being pulled away to that awful place in the back of his head where a warzone seemed to live. He smelled the gunpowder and the blood, heard the screams and the crackle of fire, even tasted the few cigarettes that he smoked in the back of his throat… but was he imagining all these things or was he really just in another warzone? Edward forced himself to open his eyes and after a moment, realize he wasn't hallucinating for once. His relief was short-lived however, when he realized that there really was another war forming around him.

Ed turned to Winry with wide eyes and saw that she was looking just as shaken as Edward felt. She looked at him, her blue eyes wide and fearful from the close call, and said something Edward's ringing ears couldn't quite pick up.

"Huh?" he asked as he tried to clear his clouded ears.

"Are you alright?" she repeated.

Edward glanced down at his body quickly and instantly saw no wounds or any sign of harm. Once again, he had escaped harm in this place.

"Yeah, yeah I'm good," he answered as he turned back to Winry.

A low moan rang through the halls. Edward curiously as Winry perked up at the noise. She forced her body into a standing position and looked down at Ed when he did not move.

"What?"

"There's someone hurt!" she urged. "We have to help them!"

Ed took in the burning look in Winry's eyes for a moment, thinking back to another pair of blue eyes that burned similarly when it came to the injured, before he got up, pushed the cart out of the way, and allowed Winry to get out of the alcove. While Winry rushed forwards to find the wounded person, Edward took in the area around him.

More flaming wreckage littering the hall, twisted metal making it difficult to move about, not to mention the horrible, stifling heat that filled the area as everything burned. Ed pulled his attention away from a particularly disturbing dark splotch on the ground and went to find Winry, who was now far down the hall.

Edward walked forward, climbing over bits of debris, and quickly reached Winry, who was crouched down next to a rather burnt and bloodied person. Ed felt his stomach churn unpleasantly as he stared down at the person and he tried his best to block out the flashes of gore that came to mind.

"It's going to be alright," Winry said in the calm and gentle voice Ed had heard her use around other patients. "You're going to be just fine."

The man below them mumbled nonsense, clearly in shock. Edward tried to see if he could understand anything he was saying, but it didn't even sound like he was speaking the same language.

"Just stay calm and stop moving and I'll help you," Winry continued before she pulled off her bandana from her head and wrapped it around the man's bleeding leg, which appeared to have taken the most damage. She turned away as the man howled from the added pressure on his wound and looked up at Ed. "We need to get him back downstairs. We have medical supplies down there."

"Er, right," Ed stuttered, thinking of how it was hard enough to find the way back downstairs without carrying a wounded man.

"Help me carry him," she ordered as she positioned herself at the man's feet. "Get his arms."

Just as Edward knelt down by the man's side, he heard the loud pounding of several pairs of boots. He looked up just in time to see a large number of uniform-clad figures round the corner before they stopped and aimed their guns at them.

"Don't move a muscle," ordered a commanding female voice from behind the first line of men. "Or we won't hesitate to blast you Drachman scum to smithereens."

* * *

**Oh snap, look who it is. Coming to fuck shit up.**

**So I have no idea when I'll be able to get the next chapter to you guys but I'll try and get it to you as soon as I possibly can, although with me and my beta both back in school, it could be a while.  
**

**Hope you enjoyed and please send me a review.  
**

**Gotta go to school now. Gonna go die.  
**

**-FSK  
**


	41. A Reason to Fight

**Hey... sorry guys... I kept trying to write this chapter, but I kept getting hit with writers block. Until last night when I got hit with a bunch of writing juice and I went to town with this chapter until three in the morning.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter and thank you to my helpful editor Dani for her help on this chapter.**

**If anyone cares, my senior year is going alright, except for my bestfriend stealing the guy I liked, I'm doing peachy.**

**Enjoy**

* * *

"We are not Drachman, dammit," Edward growled as he clung to the bars of the prison cell he was currently trapped in. "I mean, look at us! Do we look Drachman to you?" Edward pulled at his own blond locks and pointed at Winry's fair hair for emphasis.

"A spy then," said the man, sounding bored; he was in charge of watching over them while the woman who arrested them was off doing something else.

"We are not fucking spies!" Edward cried as he threw his hands into the air in exasperation. "Just let us out of here and we'll be able to properly explain who we are and what we're doing here!"

"Then why were you helping a Drachman soldier who made it into the base?" the man asked, although he did not sound like he actually cared to know the answer.

"Because we were being fucking decent human beings and helping a wounded person, you asshole!"

"Ed, calm down," Winry huffed from where she sat on the bench. "Your screaming and crying isn't going to help you any."

Edward turned and glared at her for a second but she didn't response. Instead, Winry continued to sit calmly with her arms crossed over her chest while she scowled at the wall in front of her. He was a little surprised the usually fiery girl wasn't putting up more of a fight but he pushed her from her brain; he wasn't in the mood to think about the blond woman who confused him on so many levels, he had bigger problems.

"Let us out of here!" Ed shouted as he turned back to the man while he continued to pull on the metal bars, as if he could break out of them with just his muscles.

The man didn't say anything and instead turned his chair around so that he was no longer looking at Edward. Feeling frustrated beyond belief, Ed let out a screeching noise through clenched teeth before he kicked away from the bars and collapsed next to Winry.

"Now was that really necessary?" she asked, sounding annoying and exasperated. "Did you really think that was going to help your cause any?"

Edward crossed his arms over his chest and scowled at the metal wall in front of him while he ground his teeth in frustration.

After the soldiers had put Edward and Winry in a pair of tight-fitting handcuffs and ignored their protests of Amestrian descent, the soldiers took them down through the maze that was Fort Briggs and shoved them into a prison cell in the basement. They had been told that they would be dealt with after the General 'took care of the rest of you', which only made Ed yell and protest more.

They had been sitting, or in Edward's case ranting and raving, in the prison cell for almost an hour; it was hard to tell time down there in the windowless prison cell. Even though they were probably a more than a couple feet underground, Edward could still feel the occasional shaking caused by a particularly powerful bomb. The battle outside was still raging it seemed.

Feeling suddenly and unexplainably exhausted, Edward closed his eyes and tilted his head back until it rested against the cold metal wall. His thoughts drifted towards Alphonse almost instantly.

_Where are you, Al?_Ed wondered, feeling weak with worry._When will you get here? How will you be able to get here, when we're under attack?_

Edward opened his eyes and stared at the smooth metal ceiling. In his ears, he heard not the muffled sounds of battle, but the crackling, disjointed sound of Ling as he spoke through the radio only a few hours earlier; it felt like days ago. Edward closed his eyes in an attempt to block out Ling's voice.

_Are you guys on your way here? How much longer until you get here?_

Exhaustion began to pull him under; he hadn't slept very well at all in who knows how long. Part of him didn't want him to fall asleep, the part of him that was still haunted by nightmares, but another part told him to give in while he could, because who knew when he would be able to sleep again.

_Maybe when I wake up, things will be a little better…. Maybe we'll be able to get out of this cell…_

The peace and calm did not last very long.

What felt like only moments later to Edward, he was being shaken awake while someone, a woman, yelled at him. His eyes slowly opened; it felt like he was being woken up from a coma.

"What…?"he asked weakly.

"Get up, you Drachman scum!" the woman growled.

It took his eyes a moment to focus, but once they did, Edward saw the commanding blond woman from earlier bearing down on him. He turned to his left and saw Winry, sitting next to him on the bench with her hands on her lap, looking calm but annoyed. Scowling, Ed turned his head back to face the tough woman.

"For the last time, we are not from fucking Drachma," he growled.

"And I'm supposed to just believe the word of some people who somehow managed to sneak in my fort just as an attack starts?"

"Yes, because it's the damn truth!"

"You have no solid proof."

"Well then why are you here?" Winry asked, her voice quivering slightly, probably due to the effort involved in keeping her tone calm and respectful. "If you're not going to listen to us?"

"I'm here to collect you before we personally toss you back to your little friends on the other side."

"But we're not on their side!" Winry shouted.

The tough and uncompromising woman turned away from the two and began to walk to the cell entrance when a sudden thought came to Edward.

"But I have proof that we're not Drachman!" he shouted. "I can show you!"

Edward shook his head down and attempted to dislodge the metal dog tags that contained his name, along with other bits of vital information. After a moment, Edward gave up on the task and decided to shout out the information, even if the blasted woman wouldn't listen or believe him.

"Private Edward Elric of the Amestris National Military! I fought on the battlefield near Aerugo! My commanding officer was Major Roy Mustang!"

The woman froze at the name Roy Mustang, making Edward hopeful for a moment that maybe, possibly this was something that could save him. The woman turned around and any hopeful thoughts that came to Edward crumbled when he saw the ice-cold expression on her face.

"Buccaneer!" she shouted, still glaring daggers at Edward.

The large man with the Mohawk and the nasty automail from before appeared at the cell door in an instant. Edward opened his mouth again, to maybe shout that the buccaneer had seen him earlier just as the attack was starting and he could help prove that they were not spies at all, but the harsh woman began speaking again and cut him off.

"Get me a phone. I need to make a call."

"Yes, General Armstrong," the buccaneer says with a salute before he disappears.

The woman, Armstrong, gives the two one more look before she disappears through the cell doors once again. Someone slams the cell door shut, leaving Edward and Winry to themselves once again.

"So what happens if that actually works?" Winry asked after a pause.

"Huh?" Ed asked as she turned to look at her.

"What happens if your commanding officer bails you out and you can get out of here?" she asked. "What happens to me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do I just have to sit here in this cell until everything's done? Are you going to leave me to play solider? Or do I get to get out of here too?"

"I wouldn't leave you in here alone," Edward said without a second thought. He felt heat rise to his face but he ignored it and pushed through. "I'd make sure that crazy bitch would let you out too."

"Really?" Winry asked after another pause, looking a little pink in the face herself.

"Of course," Edward said with a stiff nod while he felt his heart hammer against his chest frantically. "We've made it together this far. Why would we break it apart now? We're a team, ya know."

"A team," Winry repeated, her face seemingly closer than it was moments before.

Edward opened his mouth to say something but his throat seemed to have closed so he chose to nod his head instead. As Ed stared into Winry's deep blue eyes, he began to feel the same odd, unexplainable magnetic pull he felt back in the basement of the shack of a safe house.

"I like the sound of us being a team," Winry said softly as she leaned forward, her eyes half-lidded.

The two were so close together that Ed was sure he could correctly count the number of eyelashes on Winry's eyelids.

"Me too," Ed muttered; they were so close Ed could felt Winry's soft breath on his lips. He no longer felt the pounding of his heart against his ribs or any so of embarrassment or uneasiness. This felt right.

Edward and Winry's lips just brushed each other's just as the loud and commanding voice of General Armstrong sounded a few feet outside of the cell. Edward, feeling aggravated, went to pull back away from the blond girl, but Winry had other ideas. He felt a pair of small and surprisingly soft hands grip either side of his face for a fraction of a second before he felt a pair of soft, slightly chapped lips on his own. Edward's eyes fluttered open for a moment before he closed his eyes and leaned into the kiss. They broke away just as the lock on the cell door snapped open.

"So, after a rather interesting talk with that mutt Mustang, I guess you were telling the truth, Elric," General Armstrong said, looking as if she has just been forced to swallow a lemon.

Edward tried his best to sound smug and annoyed, but after what had just happened, he found it impossible to truly control any of his emotions. So instead, Ed crossed his arms over his chest, forced a half-assed scowl on his face, and muttered, "Told you so."

"Well, seeing as you have at least some sort of military training, and we are rather shorthanded at the moment, even though I'd rather not muddy my fort's army with outside help, I guess you could be of some help at the moment."

"So you want me to help fight the Drachman's?"

"To a degree," Armstrong said, still looking upset and rather pissed off.

"And what am I going to do?" Winry asked, looking a little more in control that Ed felt he was at the moment.

"You are going to help me repair the armory," said the Buccaneer as he appeared behind the General.

"She is?" Armstrong asked, sounding both skeptical and angry.

"I am?" Winry asked.

"I do believe I am in charge here and why would you assume this probable spy can help you with the armory?" Armstrong snapped.

"This girl has designed and built a number of automail limbs," Buccaneer said as he stepped inside the cell. "I've talked it over with our own mechanic, Neil, and he informed me that she has worked for many months with his brother on automail deigns. She is an extremely capable mechanic, and frankly, we could use the help at a time like this."

General Armstrong opened her mouth, probably to protest, but before she could speak, an earth-shattering explosion rocked the entire fort. General Armstrong turned around before she turned back to Buccaneer with wide eyes.

"Go and check on the armory this second. I want all weapons focused on those backstabbing snow-beings," she ordered. Buccaneer saluted and opened his mouth to speak but Armstrong cut him off with a snap, "Take the girl if you must. I've got better things to focus." Buccaneer saluted again as Armstrong turned to face Edward. "You come with me, Elric."

Edward and Winry jumped up and rushed forward. Edward turned left with Armstrong and Winry went to the right with Buccaneer. Edward glanced over his shoulder before they turned down a hallway and met Winry's eyes. He felt the same swooping sensation in his gut, along with worry. He wasn't sure if they'd both make it out of this battle alive, healthy, and whole.

_At least we kissed… in case something happens…_Edward thought as his face reddened once again

Edward followed Armstrong up several flights of stairs and a number of hallways until they reached what must have been one of the topmost floors of Fort Briggs. Almost all of one of the walls was open to the outside. The sounds of gunfire and bombs were almost overwhelming at this point. Men in uniform ran all over as they shoot down below at the Drachman soldiers, sent bombs down below, and ran out of the room to send orders across the fort. Edward felt his consciousness waver for a moment as sounds from his old warzone tried to force itself to the forefront of his brain, but he somehow managed to fight through it.

"You know how to work one of these, right?" Armstrong asked as she slapped one of the many unmanned, large guns.

Edward had never used one of those back at the battlefield down south, but he had been trained to use one during his time at boot camp. The learning experience was a little blurry, but he was sure he could remember how to use it quickly enough.

"Yes, sir," Edward answered as his mind snapped back into military mode.

"Get to it then," Armstrong commanded. "Aim at those horrible, cowardly men and don't stop."

With that, Armstrong turned on her heal and retreated from the room. Edward watched her disappear for a moment before he took a step forward and placed his hands in the proper placement on the gun. He glanced down the scope at one of the many, small moving targets and aimed, ready to fire at any second. He gripped the trigger, ready to fire, but just as he sucked in a breath in preparation to fire, the man dropped to the ground, dead.

Edward turned to his left and saw another soldier as he shot down one person after another. He thought of others from the south, who fought so blindly and without restraint it was almost sickening.

_You have to fight though_, Ed told himself._You have to fight to protect Alphonse… and Ling and Lan Fan and Rus and Fletch… and Dad. And Winry. You have to fight to protect all of them. You have to fight, before this battle turns into something much more._

Ed took a deep breath, shook his head, and took aim on another target. He gripped the trigger with his automail hand, and before he could chicken out or before someone else took his target, he pulled the trigger and watched as his target dropped. He closed his eyes and when he opened them again, he began firing at every target that came within sight.

_You have to fight_, Edward told himself whenever his heart twisted in guilt_. If you don't kill them, they could kill someone you care about. Someone innocent._

After a while, Edward's mind went back to the dark place he found back in the trenches near the Aeurgo border. All other thoughts were blocked out and he became a robot, a machine made to destroy enemies. He became what he feared and hoped he would never become, another brainless, obedient soldier.

_If that's what it takes to protect them…_

* * *

Many days and nights had passed, many of them sleepless for Alphonse. But that didn't matter anymore, because they were finally, truly here at Fort Briggs. He stared up at the impressive and knew that somewhere inside, his brother was there. Finally, after so long, Al would be reunited with his brother.

A bomb exploded on the other side of the fort, shaking the ground so hard that it almost knocked Al to the ground.

"How do we get in?" Al asked, feeling both hopeful and hopeless.

They were so close to the goal but it seemed impossible that they would get inside of the fort, now that a war appeared to be ragging on the other side. It wasn't like there was a brightly marked entrance for them to go into. How were they supposed to contact the others inside?

"Should we try the radio again?" Al asked.

"Don't know what else we could do," Ling said as he pulled out the radio and began fiddling with it. "Hello? Hello? Is anyone there?"

There was a pause filled with static before a voice answered.

"_Hello? It's Rollan. Ling? Is that you?"_

"Yes," Ling said, sound grateful that the radio was working for once. "We're here. At Fort Briggs. We need to get inside."

_"Alright. We'll try and get to you soon. Just hold on…."_

The line suddenly filled with static and just as Ling began to ask if anyone was still on the line, the line filled with the loud and all-consuming noise of a powerful explosion.

"Rollan?" Ling asked. "Rollan?! Rollan!"

But he received no answer. The line had gone dead.

* * *

**Dun dun dun. Hmm... battle seems to be getting worse. And Ed's back in battle. And Ed and Win FINALLY kissed. Bout time. Oh and let's not forget that the much awaited reunion should be here rather soon.**

**You'll all just have to wait until next chapter to find out what happends. I'll try to get it up within a month. I promise.**

**BTW if there are any Legend of Korra fans out there, I have a new LoK AU story that I put up and I would appreciate it if some people checked it out and left me a review. :)**

**So, I'll try to get the next chapter up soon, hopefully I won't be sticken with writers block.**

**Thanks for reading.**

**-FSK**


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